400,000 consumers tell Time Warner to stop price hikes
December 8th, 2009, 3:12 pm · 47 Comments · posted by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress
Less than two weeks after asking consumers whether it should cave and raise TV prices, Time Warner Cable says nearly 400,000 have spoken. The overwhelming response: Get tough on those pesky TV channels that keep demanding more money every year.
The “Roll Over or Get Tough” campaign — which began Nov. 25 — is pure marketing with no indication that Time Warner will really change its ways. (Read the earlier story: “Hate paying more for cable TV? Time Warner is taking a vote“) Time Warner says that some TV networks demand 300 percent increases! The marketing campaign has been very successful. Everyone from blogs to the Wall Street Journal and LA Times wrote about it.
Marketing campaign or not, the cable TV provider wanted to take its message to the people. Why does your cable bill go up every year? Because companies like Viacom (owner of Comedy Central, MTV and Nickelodeon) increase their own rates per cable subscriber.
Today, the company speaks.
“We’re delighted with the results so far,” said Glenn Britt, chairman, president and CEO in the press release. “Over 150,000 people have left comments, and 95% of them voted for ‘Get Tough.’ Our customers clearly agree that the current programming business model is broken. One comment we’re hearing pretty consistently is that customers would like the choice to buy smaller packages of channels. As an industry, we need to listen to those kinds of concerns.”
Eh? Smaller packages? Maybe Time Warner will begin to consider letting consumers pay only for the channels they want via the a la carte option, which most cable providers have not supported at all.
Time Warner quotes a few customers who left comments. The civil ones:
“As a customer of Time Warner Cable I appreciate this issue being brought to my attention. Time Warner Cable, please do your best on our behalf to push back against these TV networks who are driving up the cost of cable TV.” (LB)
“We need to force them to look at how to control their bottom line rather than just increasing prices.” (RS)
“This is certainly NOT the time to deprive the American family of the last bastion of affordable in-home entertainment.” (RCS)
Consumers can still vote and leave a comment. Britt says the company is reading every single comment.
Interestingly, Britt ends the announcement with news the company signed two agreements in the past week and is “pleased.”
No word on whether this means no price hikes for next year. Stay tuned.
Read the press release: TIME WARNER CABLE HEARS ITS CUSTOMERS LOUD AND CLEAR – GET TOUGH!
Recent Time Warner Cable news:
Reader Comments
Comments are encouraged, but you must follow our User Agreement.- Keep it civil and stay on topic.
- No profanity, vulgarity, racial slurs or personal attacks.
- People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked.
47 Comments
-
ADVERTISEMENT
-
Things to do
-
To view local listings CLICK
HERE
Or visit your TV provider: * Cox Cable * Time Warner Cable * DirecTV * Dish Network * AT&T U-verse * Verizon FiOS *
Watch a show online HERE. Get TV/mobile help on Twitter
-
-
The North Orange County Computer Club answers your tech questions. Visit the PC Club page and the Stump archives.Recent Q&As:
>>Click HERE for more PC Club answers 
More O.C. Tech News- Mindspeed In Deal With China Mobile May 21, 2012
- WD Launches Stock Repurchase Program, Shifts To NASDAQ May 21, 2012
- PromoJam: Facebook IPO Celebrated In Drinks? May 18, 2012
- WD Names Two To Board May 18, 2012
- HireRight Takes On Resume Padding Executives May 17, 2012
- Buy.com Parent Rakuten Leads $100M Round In Pinterest May 17, 2012
- Quality Systems Buys The Poseidon Group May 16, 2012
- Fisker Automotive Systems' Supplier Seeks Buyer May 15, 2012
- Blizzard Launches Diablo III May 15, 2012
- WD Completes Sale of 3.5 Inch Hard Drive Assets May 15, 2012
-
ADVERTISEMENT
Here's a list of TV/mobile companies helping consumers one tweet at a time. 
fortunately, TW is not our only choice. I switched to Verizon last year and they are just fine – as long as you don’t need to call them for anything, that is.
I too received my TWC rate increase. I called them to discuss what I could do to lower my bill. The first C/S rep “accidentally” disconnected me. The next rep told me I could lower my bill if I COMMITTED TO TWO YEARS OF SERVICE. Sooooo not going to happen. They have terrible DVRs, duplicate channels, etc., etc. Why would I sign up for two more years of sub-par service?
Can’t wait to try out some of the suggestions above.
Thanks for the tips everyone!
Anyone who has received a letter about rate increases, please share details of actual prices. Feel free to leave a comment here or send me an e-mail at thegadgetress@ocregister.com. Time Warner has confirmed to me that letters are going out but not to everyone.
I received this response today from Time Warner when I had sent an email asking why I wasn’t getting the Weather Channel and TruTV on my TV that’s hooked up to cable (no box).
“In order to continue providing innovative solutions that are simple and easy, KWHY, ShopNBC, AMC, The Weather Channel, ABC Family, Oxygen, TruTV, and Style will be available in digital format only starting on December 8th, 2009.”
So, these channels that I previously had, are now unavailable unless I pay for another box and of course, another remote.
I’m pretty darn close to leaving Time Warner.
While Time Warner is at it in this new role as advocate, why don’t they also do something about the unhealthful practice of “manipulating our TV’s volume” during commercials? For persons suffering from any of a number of neurological disorders, i.e. autism, TBI, post concussion syndrome, ADHD, to name a few, sudden increases in noise can cause behavioral changes, not to mention make them ill.
There is a bill in Congress, The CALM Act, or HR1084, that even if passed would likely take two years before any change is implemented. The industry and $$ are not surprisingly against it.
Contact and express support of HR1084 to your Congressperson and local TV provider. Look it up on http://www.loc.gov/index.html or http://www.opencongress.org
Stop the manipulation of the television in your home! Become an advocate to abolish this TV ad practice!
Here is my letter, similar to the previous commenter.
Dear Time Warner: Effective January 1, 2010 the following decrease in my subscription of your services will take place. The decrease is necessary to thwart off rising costs of your overall services and provide a continued healthy bottom line to my household. The last several of years you have raked me over the coals with the cost of channels I could care less on having but require since it’s part of another package. Thank god internet is around and the networks have started to air most of their shows on the net. While I have done the best to maintain my current level of subscription, with reductions in income and tough economic times I am longer able to keep paying your rates and must pass this decrease along to you. We thank you for your understanding and we look forward to your continued gouging. I will be looking forward to subscribing to DSL with ATT even though I hate them as much as I hate your service.
signed,
bleeding anus in OC
I’ll be doing just as a couple of others are doing and get free tv over the air along with a subscription of ATT DSL to watch online shows.. $90 amonth compated to $15-20….that’s a whole tank of gas savings..
Just wanted to inform the writer and readers that the a-la-carte option is no being ignored by Time Warner or most cable TV companies, the contract rights that are in question here dictate to the cable operator what channels are packaged where and in all but a few cases, the programmmers are forcing cable operators to carry all of the garbage channels along with the desireable ones. Thus, the programmers are effectivley killing the a-la-cart option. For a cable operator to offer a-la-carte, the pricing actually would be higher to the customer as the pricing structure that is forced on the cable operator kicks in totally unacceptable rate increases.
Thanks for your comment Rick. Could you be more specific on how much higher a la carte would be? Being faced with actual prices per channel will help consumers decide if a la carte is a better option for them than what is available today — even if it costs more.
Tamara, why did you just re-print their press release? I’m dying for someone to call Time Warner on their BS. What did the previous agreements look like? All of the info coming from TWC is so propaganda-y.
Here is the note I wrote them:
This is rich. Your company is accusing the networks of price gouging?? Time Warner is an anti-trust violation waiting to happen. You should stop feigning concern for your customers’ financial well-being. Your scare tactics are hypocritical and extremely annoying. Worse though, is that your company seems completely oblivious of its terrible reputation. Your customer service is a joke, and the services you provide are terrible. I feel like I’ve spent a month of my life on the phone trying to get you live up to your end of our agreement. Nothing you provide ever works the way you promise it will, so excuse me, but I’m choosing not to believe a word of this hyperbolic press campaign.
Hi Sarah — You must have missed my earlier story about the marketing campaign: “Hate paying more for cable TV? Time Warner is taking a vote”.
Offer customers more choice – let them decide whether they want to pay for some of these channels. I agree get tough, but if they offered customers more channel selection choice then this would be handled by the customer deciding! I know there are a ton of other channels I could do without and would love the savings!