Time Warner cable lost 83,000 subscribers in three months! That's like 1/7'th of their entire audience!
They have the nerve to claim not carrying the new NFL & BIG 10 Network has NOTHING to do with it! Idiots!.
Here's why they're losing customers...
1) Prices went up about 15% AGAIN a few months ago! Cable is now around twice as much as satellite.
2) THEY HAVE HARDLY NO HIGH DEFINITION CHANNELS! Even though almost every cable network broadcasts in High Def Time Warner only shows about 12 channels that way. Satellite shows up to 100 channels in High Def.
3) Their steadfast refusal to do as the NFL and BIG 10 want and include their new channels as part of basic cable (Time Warner is insisting they be allowed to charge extra for them if they carry them).
GO SATELLITE GO! THIS COMPETITION CAN ONLY BE GOOD FOR THE CABLE SUBSCRIBER! I've already experienced it with their willingness to cut my costs and provide free bonuses.
Cable carriers see drop in users Some say loss relates to unavailability of Big Ten, NFL networks
Time Warner Cable and Charter Communications, two major cable carriers in Wisconsin, are reporting they have lost thousands of cable subscribers, a development some tie to consumers upset that they can't get the Big Ten Network and the NFL Network.
While acknowledging the erosion of subscribers nationwide and in Wisconsin, spokesmen for both companies say other factors are behind the loss of cable subscribers. They include the downturn in the economy and the roiling of the housing market, as well as heightened competition from telephone companies in major cities around the country.
"The impact of not having the NFL Network or the Big Ten Network has been non-existent," said Alex Dudley, a Time Warner spokesman in New York.
Anita Lamont, a Charter Communications spokesman, echoed that comment, saying her firm had not seen a loss of customers due solely to people unhappy about not being able to purchase the two sports networks.
Time Warner Cable said Wednesday it had lost 83,000 subscribers in the three months ended Sept. 30, and another 57,000 in the three months prior. Time Warner has about 600,000 households in eastern Wisconsin.
Charter, which has 500,000 households in Wisconsin, reported Thursday it had lost 40,200 subscribers in the three months ended Sept. 30 and another 29,300 in the three months before.
At the same time, DirecTV, which has a contract to carry the Big Ten Network and the NFL Network, reported this week it had added 240,000 new subscribers as of Sept. 30, a 6% increase over a year earlier.
At the DISH network, which also has deals with the two sports networks, spokesman Parker McConachie said the company added 170,000 new subscribers in the second quarter.
On Wall Street, Charter shares fell 62 cents, or 35%, to $1.16. Time Warner closed at $25.82, down 55 cents.
Richard Greenfield, a cable television analyst with Pali Research, said this week that "while the pain inflicted on the cable industry for not carrying the Big Ten Network during college football season has been moderate, we believe the pain is set to reach a whole new level as college basketball season tips off in November."
Greenfield could not be reached for comment.
The Big Ten Network is scheduled to broadcast 140 men's basketball games this season. But the two major cable companies have not reached an agreement with either the NFL Network or the Big Ten Network. The two networks are pushing to be placed on expanded basic cable. The cable companies say customers are better served if the channels are placed on a digital sports tier. That way, customers who want more sports can pay for it, and those who don't won't have to pay extra.
Mark Silverman, president of the Big Ten Network, said the cable companies, especially Time Warner, have been saying that talks have been ongoing. The statement was repeated Thursday by Dudley, the Time Warner spokesman. But Silverman said that isn't the case.
"That's a blatant attempt to hold on to their subscribers," he said. "They are not negotiating and they say they are."
