Time Warner

On the surface comparing Dish Network to Time Warner, the nations second largest cable company, may seem like a mismatch. The results however, will shock you.

As Dish Network begins to make inroads against giant cable companies like Time Warner and competition heats up, it is Dish Network that competes with increased value and technology, while Time Warner seems more interested in increasing its bottom line with rate increases, that are not accompanied by any additional benefits for its customers.

Like most cable companies, Time Warner has become enamored with trying to make money off of its customers with three services (television, Internet and phone) rather than one. This has unfortunately caused the quality and value of its television service to be greatly diminished. Dish Network concentrates solely on making its television service the very best in the nation and their efforts have not gone unnoticed by consumers.

Let's examine the numbers:

With Dish Network pricing is very straightforward, promotions are easy to obtain and understand, packages are loaded with value and prices are the same nationwide. Time Warner in most cases is harder to figure out than Congressional Bill. Prices in New York will be different than prices in Ohio. Packages available in California may not be available in Texas and promotions in Los Angeles may be very different in San Diego. For comparative purposes we will examine one of Time Warner's most economical areas in North Carolina.

Time Warner's Premium One Digital Tier (140-channels) is $71.95 per month, it includes local channels, but DVR service is an additional $10.95 per month. Time Warner includes HD channels for Free, but there are only 18-HD channels.

Time Warner's Basic Service (45-channels) is $34.83 per month and to move up a Tier (95-channels) the price jumps to $56.66 per month. If you need a second TV serviced it will cost an additional $7.23 per month.

Dish Network has no less than three packages that provide customers with significantly more value than Time Warner’s offerings. Dish Network's Classic Bronze package has 120-channels and is regularly $39.99 per month and is currently in promotion for $24.99 for the first year. Classic Silver has 220-channels and is priced normally at $52.99, $37.99 for the first year. Classic Gold has over 260-channels and at $62.99 is still nearly $10-per month cheaper than Time Warner's best package and provides 120-more channels. If that isn't shocking enough you can get Gold for $47.99 for the first year.

Local channels are included in all of Dish Network’s packages; DVR service is just an additional $5.98 and services two televisions. Time Warner is nearly double that price for DVR service on one TV. Time Warner's current DVR capacity is 80-hours in standard-definition and 35-hours in high-definition - compared to Dish Network's 350-hours in SD and 55-HD. Now HD service will cost you an additional $10.00 with Dish Network, but they have 140-HD channels.

Movie lovers will be overwhelmed by Dish Network's America's Everything package which offers more than 295-channels for $102.99 / $87.99 for the first year. The package has 32-Premium Movie Channels from HBO, Showtime, Starz and Cinemax.

Sports fans will also flock to Dish Network. NFL Network and NFL Red Zone channels are staples with Dish Network and not available with Time Warner. Time Warner does carry MLB Extra Innings, which runs about $200 per season, and MLB Network, where Dish Network does not. Coverage of your local baseball teams is available through Dish, however.

If you are looking to bundle television, Internet and phone, or watch out of market baseball games, Time Warner may be a consideration. If you are looking to get more for your hard-earned money, Dish Network is the clear choice for value. read more »

If you had plans of sitting around a chimney fire watching your favorite FX shows with your family on New Years day that may change. If Time Warner does not agree with Fox Network to keep the programming in tact, starting Dec.31 at midnight all of your Fox network channels will be blacked out. The sad thing about it is that you will not only lose the regular Fox channel but many others as well.

For some of us the loss of the FX channel means a lot considering a lot of the best TV shows are carried by the network. Shows like Sons Of Anarchy, Nip Tuck, Damages, Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and the hit new show The League; which all about guys wheeling and dealing to improve their Fantasy Football teams. For millions of Fantasy football players out there this show is exactly what it’s like to run a team.

While there is still time for Time Warner to continue to bring America one of the top channels, time is running out and it does not look good. With New Years only eight days away a lot of people holiday TV lineups are in jeopardy.

With the loss of FX if you plan on just watching one of the BCS College Football bowl games that won’t happen either. Once you lose FX you also lose Fox, which will be airing The Sugar Bowl between No.3 Cincinnati vs. No.5 Florida, Cotton Bowl No.19 Oklahoma St vs. Mississippi, Tostitos Fiesta Bowl No.4 TCU vs. No.6 Boise St, and the Fed Ex Orange Bowl No.10 Iowa vs. No.9 Georgia Tech.

For Time Warner they couldn’t have picked a worst time to put out their Roll Over Or Get Tough Campaign. The campaign is Time Warner trying to say that networks are causing them to drive prices up on all of their customers. But yet Dish Network will still be bringing their loyal customers those same channels that many Time Warner customers stand to lose at a lower price.

They can try and spin the situation anyway they want with a revenue of $46.98 billion in 2008 maybe they should pay their top CEO’s less in bonuses and focus more on keeping their loyal customers. All they can do is blame themselves as customers start to find out there are cheaper and better options out there like Dish Network.

Below are the main target areas for the Roll Over Or Get Tough Campaign
Albany NY
Austin TX
Beaumont TX
Binghamton
Buffalo
Charleston SC
Charlotte
Cincinnati
Columbus OH
Corpus Christi
Dallas/Ft. Worth
El Paso
Florence/Myrtle Beach
Green Bay
Greensboro
Honolulu
Kansas City
Los Angeles
Louisville
Milwaukee
New York
Raleigh
San Antonio
San Diego
Syracuse
Toledo
Utica
Waco

Yesterday around 50,000 Time Warner cable customers lost access to their cable TV, phone, and internet services due to a fire in the Time Warner facilities. Thankfully no one was hurt int he fire but they are unsure when they will be able to ge the services up and running again.

satellite tv customers in El Paso, TX are still enjoying there strong service and clear picture. read more »

Time Warner Cable Customers Lose Out On HD Programming

Time Warner Cable has announced that it will stop offering HDNet and HDNet Movies across all of its systems effective May 31.

HDNet and HDNet Movies, launched in 2001, offers original programming and features including a newsmagazine hosted by former CBS anchor Dan Rather. HDNet has been advertised as "Your home for MMA" and has been showcasing a weekly show "Inside MMA" as well as broadcasting live DREAM, Sengoku and MFC events. Dropping HDNet will leave a lot of Time Warner customers who are MMA and UFC fans in the dark.

Luckily, Satellite TV still carries HDNet and HDNet Movies as part of their industry-leading HD Channel lineup. Watch over 130 HD Channels with Satellite TV, including HDNet and HDNet Movies!

Time Warner Cable subscribers (more than 615,000) in a region of New York that includes the Hudson Valley area were in for a surprise when they opened their recent cable bill. Seems the powers that be at Time Warner have decided that a rate increase is necessary. Rates will increase by an average of 2.6%.

When questioned about the increase Time Warner gave their usual canned response which cites the following for the rate hike: labor, health care costs, programming increases and increased costs for fuel. Heard those reasons countless times before.

When a company such as Time Warner Cable decides to impose a rate hike on it customers I think it only fair that they provide full disclosure of their total operating costs and profits in every letter or bill they send out to their subscribers when informing them of an impending rate increase. An action such as this would allow customers to decide whether or not to remain with Time Warner or perhaps switch to another cable provider if possible.

Just when you think the cost of entertainment, namely home tv viewing couldn't possibly go any higher someone comes along and takes a sledgehammer to your bubble. In this instance it's Time Warner who's wielding the hammer that shatters the bubble.

For Time Warner subscribers in upstate New York that broken bubble means a cable tv rate hike. The new cost of watching tv will vary depending on where you live. The cost for Time Warner's standard cable will rise from $46.38 to $52.00 per month

A spokesperson for Time Warner, a Mr. Steve Arvan pointed out that while the company is raising their rates this current increase is below the rate of inflation. What Mr. Arvan neglected to also point out, while giving himself and the company a pat on the back is the fact that cable tv prices have far outpaced the rate of inflation over the last 10 years. Cable tv rates have quite literally skyrocketed faster than a Nasa shuttle lift-off.

While it would appear that Time Warner feels that this current rate increase is no big deal I beg to differ. For me that approx. $6.00 increase is roughly equal to the cost of 1/2lb. of sandwich meat at the deli and a loaf of bread, which would provide me with several lunches during the work week. What Time Warner doesn't seem to realize is that I have to eat, to have strength to work, to obtain the money to pay their inflated costs for their limited programming.

So Time Warner before you pat yourselves on the back once again perhaps it would be prudent for you to take your head out of the clouds and come down off your pedestal . Take the time to see what impact your continuous rate increases have on people who live in the real world. Those who live from paycheck to paycheck and rely on tv for their source of entertainment.

Subscribers Of Time Warner Cable in New York are hopefully prepared for their next rate hike which will take effect on April 1. The average rate increase will be approximately 2.6%. While to some this might not seem like a huge amount of money try explaing that  to the our senior citizens, most  of whom are living on a fixed income. For some of the elderly cable tv is not only their one source for entertainment but also for information on current news in their local area. 

Time Warner always professes that their rate hates are justified because they are providing more progarmming, upgrading equipment , etc.. etc... I'm wondering if subscribers have noticed any real difference in the quality of their programming with all of these upgrades. Granted Time Warner has added some new HD channels to their line-up but does that justify a rate increase.

Is Time Warner  raising their rates because of rising fuel prices, programming and energy costs or is their another reason. Last year as New Yorkers know Time Warner took over Adelphia Cable Company  and I'm sure the buyout wasn't cheap. Could this be the main reason behind the recent rate increase. After all buying out a company has to put a serious dent in your liquid assets unless their was just a stock swap. Then you need to worry about you're stockholders.  A sure fire and quick way to appease the shareholder and increase your liquidity which was drained from your purchase at least in the case of Time Warner is to immediately increase the rates for you services.

Time Warner customers in  Augusta, Me will soon be hit with a rate increase in their cable bills. The cost of the increase will range approximately from 1% to %5. Customers who subscribe to the basic cable will see their rates increase the most. Rate increases for all other Time Warner cable customers will vary depending on the cable package they subscribe to.

It seems to me that constantly charging higher rates for customers who have a less costly programming package is a great strategy. At some point customers might decide that the're paying to much for to little and decide that upgrading to a higher priced package is they way to go thereby increasing the cable companies profits.

A story I just read on line is so incredulous that I still can't believe it. It seems that a Time Warner customer who resides in Wheatland, Wisconsin is being asked to fork over $2,000 for 5 nine year old cable boxes. Some of you out there might be asking whats wrong with that. Time Warner is after all the owner of the boxes.

I'll tell you whats wrong. This poor womans home was destroyed by a tornado.  She probably lost everything and is totally overwhelmed by her current circumstances.The last thing she needs to be concerned with is a Corporate giant going after her for  plastic boxes that probably cost them about $50.00 a piece, if even that. These companies buy these things in bulk. I mean were not talking about a valuable piece of artwork here.

Secondly, their piece of plastic depreciates in value just like anything else in this world. You wouldn't expect to pay the same amount for a used 9 year old car as you would a new one just out of the showroom would you.

Time Warner should just suck it up and step up to the plate. Write off the boxes as a loss and get over it. Their CEO probably spends more than $2,000 when picking up the the tab for dinner at a 5 star restaurant..

It’s a simple truth that cable companies don’t offer a good deal when it comes to the NFL Network. They either don’t provide access to the NFL Network at all or they charge an extra fee for it on a special sports tier. Time Warner is very big in central Texas and they haven’t yet reached an agreement with the NFL Network. This in turn affects the programming options of hundreds of thousands of customers in over 40 communities. Many tv households in Texas couldn’t see the recent action-packed games, including the Dallas Cowboys vs. Green Bay Packers, Houston vs. Denver, and the Cowboys vs. Carolina.There’s one good and immediate solution. Satellite TV, the #1 satellite tv provider, offers the NFL Network’s first-rate coverage without an extra fee and without any hassles. Satellite TV believes that NFL football coverage should be made accessible to viewers, so the NFL Network is included with all packages of Choice and above. There are now about 16 million people on board with Satellite TV. Cable companies might offer attractive bundles of services, but when it comes right down to programming variety and sports coverage, there’s simply no comparison! With Satellite TV, you can be assured 24:7 jam-packed football action on the NFL Network.