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Archive for the 'poll' Tag

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Time Warner Cable adding new HD sports channel, plus 2 more

March 17th, 2010, 5:45 pm by

No, the NFL channel isn’t coming to Time Warner Cable. Now that that’s out of the way, there is a new HD sports channel just around the corner for Orange County and Los Angeles customers.

Called iN Demand Sports HD, the new sports channel will feature baseball and hockey games and be part of the existing MLB Extra Inning pacakge and NHL Center Ice package. iN Demand calls the channel GAME2 and for Time Warner customers, it will be available on channel 731 beginning April 19.

iN Demand is a network owned by several cable companies, including Time Warner and Cox.

“iN Demand calls it GAME2. This channel will be added to our lineup in order to further expand the HD game offerings as part of NHL CENTER ICE and MLB EXTRA INNINGS. This will bring a significant increase to the number of HD games available in these packages,” said Time Warner spokesman Darryl Ryan.

The addition of the HD sports channel brings the number to 4 HD channels that Time Warner offers from iN Demand. The others include HD PPV on channel 431, and seasonal sports packages on 732 and 733.

Time Warner also announced that two foreign-language channels, plus two radio channels will be added to the lineup beginning April 19. Those are: Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • • • • • • • • | 20 Comments »

Most TV viewers pay $70/month or more for service

March 4th, 2010, 2:45 pm by

Now that 2009 numbers are in, how much did the average person pay for TV service?

A lot! At least $70 a month!

Scanning public documents, I set up a handy chart for consumers to see how much money TV services are collecting from subscribers each month.

Please note that some of these prices may include Internet and phone service (cable and Internet providers) while others only include TV service (satellite providers).

Also, these numbers are what the companies call the average monthly revenue per subscriber. I like to think of this as the monthly bill, but technically, the numbers can also include business customers and other fees, which skews what the monthly bills really are. Here are the results, in no particular order:
TV service 2008 2009 change
Dish Network $69.27 $70.04 1.1%
DirecTV $83.90 $85.48 1.9%
Time Warner Cable $92.44 $97.83 5.8%
Verizon FiOS $133.00 $140.00 5.3%
AT&T U-verse $61.75* n/a*
Comcast $111.05 $118.20 6.4%
Cox** n/a n/a
Source: All numbers are based on public annual reports from the companies.
* AT&T’s 2008 figure includes cheaper DSL service. The company did not release the price for 2009.
** Cox is a private company and does not release its numbers.

With more fee disputes between TV networks and the TV services, prices aren’t expected to go down any time soon. One analyst estimates cable TV customers pay $100 a month. Plus, we heard from Time Warner this week that Internet has replaced the cable TV as the company’s core product so Internet prices may go up too (read: “Time Warner toys with raising Internet prices.”)

But some have hinted at expanding plans and offering some lower-priced packages. Perhaps when online TV services like TV Everywhere from Time Warner and Comcast become available, a wider variety of lower-priced options for paying customers will open up.
TAKE THE POLL: THE PRICE OF TV
How much do you pay for TV service?
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How much should TV service be?
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Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • | 43 Comments »

Some fixes for cable TV’s poor reputation

February 3rd, 2010, 2:41 pm by

Cable TV Cable TV companies are losing customers daily.

But if you take a close look at Time Warner Cable’s and Comcast Corp.’s recent financial update, both companies are losing customers they don’t really want anymore. That’s basic cable customers. Instead, both are gaining digital TV customers, who are likely to pay more per month and use less bandwidth.

So, while 68 percent of cable TV users say they’ll drop their service for a 20 percent discount elsewhere (read: Cable TV users just want a 20% discount, says report), are customers are really willing to run?

Readers give several reasons why they’re unhappy with their cable or other paid TV service but won’t drop  it (read: “Why do unhappy customers stay with cable TV?“). Some legitimate reasons include the physical inability to subscribe to an alternative, higher cost if you have multiple TVs,  or they’re locked into a long term contract. (I’ve added the poll at the bottom of this post.)

Ben Piper, an analyst with Strategy Analytics who published yesterday’s report about unhappy cable users, answered a few more questions about the state of cable:

Gadgetress: Readers are constantly berating cable TV. Much more positive responses for IPTV and satellite TV services.

Ben Piper: Our research certainly supports that observation. Overall, customers in our survey reported high satisfaction with their current digital television provider. Seventy-one percent of respondents reported to be “somewhat” or “very” satisfied with their current service.

While this may seem like positive news for the digital television industry, the story changes somewhat when viewed at the individual platform level. The differences among Cable, Satellite, and Telco TV subscribers was marked, with Telco/IPTV customers reporting 95% overall satisfaction, compared to 67% for Cable.

When viewed at a more granular level, Cable underperformed in virtually every metric. The disparity was most pronounced in the areas of ‘Choice of Channels,’ ‘Quality of Channels,’ ‘Picture Quality’ and ‘Innovativeness.’

Q: Internet TV services (Verizon FiOS and AT&T U-verse) are the newest but least available. Is it just a matter of time before even these services develop a horrible customer service reputation? Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • • | 26 Comments »

Why do unhappy customers stay with cable TV?

February 2nd, 2010, 4:41 pm by

TV service dealsHelp me out readers. I know many of you — especially anonymous commenters – like to bad mouth your TV service.

Then I hear excuses like, “I didn’t want to have to change my email addresses” and “I know there is satellite for TV but I don’t really want that” and even “I’m chicken to change from TWC because of the Great Unkown[sic]” — the latter two excuses were e-mailed to me.

And I’ve heard from companies like Verizon’s FiOS, which has had a difficult time attracting customers. It blames the local cable TV provider, which perks up its ears when FiOS enters town and blasts existing customers with better deals. Consumers seem to really have no loyalty when it comes to TV service.

Take the poll and see the results:
Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • | 44 Comments »

What everyone is saying about Apple’s iPad

January 27th, 2010, 2:01 pm by

Apple Announces Launch Of New Tablet ComNow that the Apple iPad is official (read the details at “Apple announces its first tablet computer: The iPad“), the skinny little machine is getting all sorts of reviews from folks who had the chance to play with it and others who’ve only read about it.

Here’s a collection of observations from the Web and the newsroom:

>>This just in: Ken Brusic, editor for The Orange County Register and an iPhone user: What they did was really smart. We will order one to see how it might help us think of Ken Brusic, editor of The Orange County Registerproducing content in the future and see what our web site will look like on such a thing. The thing that I think is really smart is … instead of creating something new, they’ve created something that is really useful and continued along the same path that they started with the development community and the millions of ( iPhone and iTouch) users. I think it probably won’t be as useful as a Kindle for reading a book. eInk technology is really great for reading books because it uses so little power and the reading experience is really great. … I think magazines and newspapers will be great on the tablet. But 10 hours worth of battery life? I’ll have to see it to believe it.

► Brent Chow, Yorba Linda resident via Twitter: the iPad could rev the use of portable comps. Y buy a macbk pro when u can get a more powerful imac & ipad for about the same $

► OCMarisa on Twitter: I’ve been hoping for this. Been holding off on a netbook. I’ll get this with the 3G

► Peacekeeper357 via Twitter: Meh. Not bad, but not great. I’ll wait 4 next rev. I waited until 3G iPhone, I’ll wait on this.

► Jon Lansner, OC Register real estate blogger at Lansner on Real Estate (and an iPod Touch user): I’m not sure this is the game changer, technology wise. But packaging-wise — assuming it delivers the expected high performance — this seems like the “next big thing.” And to bring technology up a notch to the masses, It’s always been about the packaging — not the science anyway. This may indeed be the start of the  ”paperless” society many have dreamed of.

► Engadget, tech news site: “The screen is gorgeous, tilting is responsive, and the thing is super thin. Still, if you’ve used the iPhone before — and you can see the two devices side-by-side here — there’s not a lot of surprises here so far. …It’s not light. It feels pretty weighty in your hand.” (Read more)

► Leo Malone, Gadgetress commenter: Sadly it’s just a big iPod Touch. If it won’t run normal Apple laptop apps then it’s really just a toy. And when you consider it, a big uncomfortable one.

► Sonya Smith, our own beloved iGirl and major Apple user, via Twitter: The ipad has arrived. Now back to trying to sleep off this cold. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Apple mania • • • • | 33 Comments »

Yes, Apple announces its first tablet computer: The iPad

January 27th, 2010, 10:15 am by

Apple Announces Launch Of New Tablet ComIt’s official. Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs has announced the company’s first tablet computer: the iPad.

What can you do with it? Surf the Internet, send e-mail, share pictures, watch videos, listen to music, plays games and read eBooks, Jobs told the media crowd who showed up in San Francisco for this morning’s big announcement.

This is definitely what was rumored. And it does look like a giant iPhone. Jobs went on to show numerous publications that have built content fit for the iPad including the New York Times (which also made an appearance on stage), Time and  National Geographic.

UDPATE: Some prices revealed: $499 for the 16 GB version. The 32GB is $599 and 64GB is $699. These are all Wi-Fi versions. With 3G, add $130 to each model so the prices jump to $629 $729 and $829. Data plans start at $14.99/month for 250 mb of data or $29.99 for unlimited data. AT&T is providing the service plus offering free Wi-Fi hotspot access.

Apple iPad is 0.5-inch thin

The iPad begins shipping in 60 days for the non 3G versions. The 3G versions will ship in 90 days.

>> Watch Apple’s iPad video HERE.

It has interesting tweaks on the usual computer/phone features like calendar, Google Maps, contacts. Some featured services already built for iPad: Fandango movie tickets and MLB.com‘s baseball videos.

Take the poll:
OK. You’ve heard and read the buzz. We know it’s early — hey, you can’t even buy one yet — but we have to know …

So, will you buy one?
View Results

Jobs had a whole segment on, what else, iBooks. Harper Collins, Penguin, Simon & Schuster, Macmillan are some of the publishers named. It uses the ePub format, an open format so you might be able to upload your own books. According to iLounge.com, Jobs said:

Apple will go further than Kindle with a full-screen eBook reader called iBooks. iBooks has a bookshelf that inclues covers on a shelf. You can see two pages or one page at once as you prefer, and there’s a button at upper left to access the new iBook Store. Fully integrated with app to let you discover, purchase, download eBooks right on your iPad.

SPECS: It has Internet, of course. There’s also Bluetooth and Wi-Fi (802.11n), some will have 3G wireless service built in (see prices above). All 3G models will be unlocked. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Apple mania • Computers • Gadgets • • • • • • • • | 87 Comments »

Will you buy Apple’s iPad?

January 27th, 2010, 10:11 am by

screen-shot-2010-01-27-at-110540-amOK. You’ve heard and read the Apple iPad buzz.If you haven’t …

We know it’s early — hey, you can’t even buy one yet — but we have to know …

So, will you buy one?
View Results

Posted in: Apple mania • • | 3 Comments »

Time Warner could lose ‘Simpsons,’ ‘American Idol,’ more Fox shows

December 18th, 2009, 11:52 am by

Updated, 2:30 p.m. Consumer group says what this fight is all about: Money, not consumers. See below.

twcfox364News Corp. began its advertising blitz against Time Warner Cable today by appealing to viewers who are fans of “NFL on Fox,” “24,” “American Idol” and “The Simpsons.” The word-heavy commercial says:

“Time Warner Cable is using programming costs as an excuse to raise your bill while they continue to rake in billions in profits and even though they’ve just announced a 20% rate increase in some cities, they’re telling you they may have to increase your bill again to continue to offer the NFL on Fox, 24, American Idol, The Simpsons, Glee and more. Tell Time Warner Cable to stop making exucuses and continue to give you the programs you want at a price that is fair.”

The commercial then offers a phone to call in — 866-KEEP-FOX — and a Web site: Keepfoxon.com.

Time Warner, which has 14 million subscribers, says the opposite. A spokeswoman told the Wall Street Journal, which is also owned by News Corp., “Negotiations are ongoing, but Fox’s current demands are unreasonable, especially in this economic climate,” said Maureen Huff, a Time Warner Cable spokeswoman.

POLL: Want Fox TV?
When it comes to Fox TV,
View Results

But wait. What’s really happening here?

For nine months, News Corp. and Time Warner have been negotiating over the price Time Warner must pay per subscriber in order to offer Fox and other channels to viewers.

If a deal isn’t reached by midnight Dec. 31, Time Warner subscribers in New York, Los Angeles, Austin, Dallas, Detroit, Orlando and Tampa could lose Fox TV and other News Corp.’s channels, which include FX, SPEED, FUEL TV, Fox Movie Channel, Fox Reality Channel, Fox Soccer Channel and Fox Sports en Español. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • • • • • • | 57 Comments »

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