Community Chat

[MomOf4]

On 2/13/2014 JaneMarple said:

Have they worked out who is getting the boot and who is staying? I'm sure the installers are staying but they don't need two sets of management. But I'm sure they have worked all of that out.

I read there aren't many atreas where the coverage overlaps so most of the the regular work force will probably keep their jobs but who knows about management. I'm sure they have big buyout packages.

[legolovermd]

I have Time Warner and I can say they are better now than they have ever been, but that still doesn't mean they are great. My bill seems to go up every month even though I have a supposed locked in bundle price for two years.

[ms traditional]

have used Comcast and TW and was more than unhappy. so i would say they deserve each other. am very happy with AT&T U-verse. i say - let there be more competition in the marketplace so these companies have a little heat to perform.

[KYToby]

I worked in the cable industry for more than 11 years for the third and fourth largest cable companies, and I worked on all levels (from phone agent to executive management), and I do have a couple of thoughts.

First, this will not take place overnight. In addition to the boards of both companies coming to an agreement (the easy part), this has to be approved by federal regulators. Once done, the respective companies have to submit their plans to the various state agencies which also regulate the industry and local franchise authorities. Once all approvals are in, the companies then have to integrate their various systems, including billing, and this will take quite a bit of time. In other words, do not expect anything to happen quickly. The full integration of both companies could take a couple of years -- or longer.

Secondly, no one likes their cable company. Comcast customers are cheering, hoping; TWC customers are cheering, hoping Comcast is better. Customers of both companies are wishing they could get Charter; Charter customers wish they could get Comcast or TWC. In one of my positions, I saw all incoming e-mail from customers to our customer service agents; for every customers complaining out our service, we had just as many customers from other companies begging us to come into their market.

Third, as hard it is to accept, cable companies do not have a monopoly. In addition to satellite services and services being offered by more and more phone companies, there are some markets with more than one cable company. At any time, a second (or third) cable company can open in a market with an existing company if they get a franchise agreement; this happens in very few markets, though, because the other company would have to install its own lines and equipment, and in most markets where this has occurred, the customer base is split, one company does not find it profitable, and they end up shutting down in that market. Additionally, it is always possible to move to another area.

Finally, in regards to bills, there are a couple of issues. There are a portion of the bills that are government fees and taxes that cable companies have no control over. Most companies audit these yearly to ensure they are not charging too much or too little to the customers and adjust the bills accordingly. All of these monies get passed on to the respective agencies. Cable bills are impacted by changes I programming costs that networks charge cable companies; companies try to limit changing bills as much as possible, but eventually, bills have to be adjusted (in other words, if the cable companies have to pay more for programming, customers will eventually pay more). Perhaps the biggest variable area pay-per-view charges; I cannot tell you how many customers order loads of pay-per-views and then do not understand the increase in charges.

I will leave it at that. This was my attempt to shed a little light on the subject, and is byh no means a comprehensive explanation of cable television mergers. Additionally, it is not intended as an argument, and I will not be responding further, as I do not wish to get into any bates or lengthy discussions on the subject because it would entail more time than I am willing to spend.

[Wild Cherry]

On 2/12/2014 just bee said:

Hey, maybe Comcast could tell me why my cable bill goes up every month. Now there's a concept.

Probably for the same reasons everything else does. I know my satellite TV is the same way.

[terrier3]

On 2/13/2014 MomOf4 said:

On 2/13/2014 JaneMarple said:

Have they worked out who is getting the boot and who is staying? I'm sure the installers are staying but they don't need two sets of management. But I'm sure they have worked all of that out.

I read there aren't many atreas where the coverage overlaps so most of the the regular work force will probably keep their jobs but who knows about management. I'm sure they have big buyout packages.

I left TWC in November to start my own consulting company.

They were very intent on getting rid of all the long term, highly compensated employees that were entitled to pensions - which increased every month we worked. They cut our commissions by 66% and got rid of sales bonuses for hitting goals. Out of 24 salespeople that started 2013 in my office, only 4 are left...everyone else left for better opportunities. Meanwhile, the trade journals were in awe at how TWC had reduced expenses... No surprise to us!!!!

The new people that were hired at the end of last year were given written guarantees to make very high salaries - not commission sales. Management knew that they were going to be bought and the contracts weren't worth the paper they were written on! Two people were hired to replace me - both at salaries higher than I was making. That was in November. By mid-January they were complaining that they had been switched to commission and were making a fraction of their written guarantees. Too bad for them...they were told "take it or leave it."

The president of ad sales made 3 million plus stock options - obviously her bosses made even more. Stock was valued at around $80/share for 2013 options. In the sale, they will be valued around $160/share - so they will make many millions more. Obviously the combined companies won't need as many managers, but they will all have great deals to leave.

These two companies do not compete at all. They are in different markets. Merging the companies will give them a huge advantage when they negotiate with cable networks to provide service.

Comcast bought NBC/Universal about a year ago - so they already own all the NBC cable networks like NBC Sports, USA, MSNBC, Spike, CNBC...many more too. There will be no danger of subscribers losing service when those network contracts expire. This should also cut down on broadcast networks and other cable nets going dark at the end of their agreements - what network wants to suddenly lose over 30 million homes?

BTW - the future of the cable industry is NOT the homes were they deliver TV networks. Growth is in providing better and faster high speed broadband services, what we are using now to communicate. They are concentrating on internet services to homes and businesses and directed advertising - both on the web and in homes. Interactive TV - where you can buy products through your cable box - is also a growth area. Programming is now available on your mobile devices as long as you subscribe to internet or cable services too.

It's a new world of communications!

[focksie]

On 2/13/2014 OC FRESH said:

On 2/12/2014 MomOf4 said:

We have had TWC for years and they are not a good company to deal with. We had no CBS all summer. Our bill still went up as service went down. Hopefully Comcast will be an improvement.

We had TW for years too and switched to Verizon Fios. OMgosh what a difference for the better in service, price, internet, everything.

Time Warner likes to blame your equipment for problems; it's never their fault.

We have Verizon as our telephone service only and they have been harassing us for 2 years to change our copper wiring to fiber-optics. What they are hiding is the fact that only Verizon is dedicated to fiber-optics. We would not be able to use any other carrier and would then be forced to use them for internet and tv as well. Not many of their victims know this.

[serenity4ever]

On 2/13/2014 focksie said:

On 2/13/2014 OC FRESH said:

On 2/12/2014 MomOf4 said:

We have had TWC for years and they are not a good company to deal with. We had no CBS all summer. Our bill still went up as service went down. Hopefully Comcast will be an improvement.

We had TW for years too and switched to Verizon Fios. OMgosh what a difference for the better in service, price, internet, everything.

Time Warner likes to blame your equipment for problems; it's never their fault.

We have Verizon as our telephone service only and they have been harassing us for 2 years to change our copper wiring to fiber-optics. What they are hiding is the fact that only Verizon is dedicated to fiber-optics. We would not be able to use any other carrier and would then be forced to use them for internet and tv as well. Not many of their victims know this.

Exactly and when we had trouble with our phone service they outright REFUSED to fix it unless we went over to FIOS. We switched to Time Warner and so far so good...

[croemer]

On 2/13/2014 focksie said:

On 2/13/2014 OC FRESH said:

On 2/12/2014 MomOf4 said:

We have had TWC for years and they are not a good company to deal with. We had no CBS all summer. Our bill still went up as service went down. Hopefully Comcast will be an improvement.

We had TW for years too and switched to Verizon Fios. OMgosh what a difference for the better in service, price, internet, everything.

Time Warner likes to blame your equipment for problems; it's never their fault.

We have Verizon as our telephone service only and they have been harassing us for 2 years to change our copper wiring to fiber-optics. What they are hiding is the fact that only Verizon is dedicated to fiber-optics. We would not be able to use any other carrier and would then be forced to use them for internet and tv as well. Not many of their victims know this.

Oh wow I can see that...yikes.

I have TW and for the most part enjoy it. I have complained repeatedly that we have freeze frame problems and the sound goes off on my TV...especially when I pause a programand come back to watch. Very irritating.

I have read even bigger problems about Comcast and their customer service...so not a fan of this move.

We have been thinking of going to DirectTV.

[Qwackertoo]

On 2/13/2014 KYToby said:

I worked in the cable industry for more than 11 years for the third and fourth largest cable companies, and I worked on all levels (from phone agent to executive management), and I do have a couple of thoughts.

First, this will not take place overnight. In addition to the boards of both companies coming to an agreement (the easy part), this has to be approved by federal regulators. Once done, the respective companies have to submit their plans to the various state agencies which also regulate the industry and local franchise authorities. Once all approvals are in, the companies then have to integrate their various systems, including billing, and this will take quite a bit of time. In other words, do not expect anything to happen quickly. The full integration of both companies could take a couple of years -- or longer.

Secondly, no one likes their cable company. Comcast customers are cheering, hoping; TWC customers are cheering, hoping Comcast is better. Customers of both companies are wishing they could get Charter; Charter customers wish they could get Comcast or TWC. In one of my positions, I saw all incoming e-mail from customers to our customer service agents; for every customers complaining out our service, we had just as many customers from other companies begging us to come into their market.

Third, as hard it is to accept, cable companies do not have a monopoly. In addition to satellite services and services being offered by more and more phone companies, there are some markets with more than one cable company. At any time, a second (or third) cable company can open in a market with an existing company if they get a franchise agreement; this happens in very few markets, though, because the other company would have to install its own lines and equipment, and in most markets where this has occurred, the customer base is split, one company does not find it profitable, and they end up shutting down in that market. Additionally, it is always possible to move to another area.

Finally, in regards to bills, there are a couple of issues. There are a portion of the bills that are government fees and taxes that cable companies have no control over. Most companies audit these yearly to ensure they are not charging too much or too little to the customers and adjust the bills accordingly. All of these monies get passed on to the respective agencies. Cable bills are impacted by changes I programming costs that networks charge cable companies; companies try to limit changing bills as much as possible, but eventually, bills have to be adjusted (in other words, if the cable companies have to pay more for programming, customers will eventually pay more). Perhaps the biggest variable area pay-per-view charges; I cannot tell you how many customers order loads of pay-per-views and then do not understand the increase in charges.

I will leave it at that. This was my attempt to shed a little light on the subject, and is byh no means a comprehensive explanation of cable television mergers. Additionally, it is not intended as an argument, and I will not be responding further, as I do not wish to get into any bates or lengthy discussions on the subject because it would entail more time than I am willing to spend.

We're DISH customers but yep, won't happen overnight, just like airline mergers and takeovers. And maybe not at all. Didn't "they" recently say no to TMobile and AT&T? I think. Yep our cell phone, 4 cells and @ home 110.00 with taxes and fees turns into 140 something . .. just like internet and Dish bill . . . all those taxes and fee DO add up. Sizable chunk of change. Between the three. Phone, cable & internet. For fun I'll have to tally the taxes and fees of all 3 x 12 . . . or maybe I don't really want to know. haha And April 15th is coming soon.