bye bye disney?

[iceturkee]

as i already reported, if you didn't see saturday's orlandosentinel.com, the disney contract expires sept 2 with time warner and they are pretty much going to demand a substantial increase. this is very similar to what happened with fox in late december.

disney has already pulled 4 hd channels from dish network for the same reasons so i gather they mean business. now is the time to complain to the usual places or cancel bhn

just a second heads up.

[kparrish1]

Why would I cancel bhn when it is Disney jacking up prices? Maybe it is time for these companys to dump Disney. I for one don't want my bill going up!!
keith

[iceturkee]

so you are okay losing all the espn networks and your local abc affiliate beside the disney channels?

[kparrish1]

If it means a major rate increase yes. It is time the cable co. and sat co. start standing up to these people. The fcc need to allow us to pick and choose the channels we want.
keith

[jcarrera]

Entertainment is getting to cost too much--especially TV and movies. I'm finding more and more that reading and building things in my garage are pretty good entertainment, thank you.

I think the next cable bill ATTEMPTED increase will result in a surprise for BHN. Their net revenue from me is gonna drop. The prices are getting to be abusive. I recognize SOME of the upward pressure may not be their fault, but the weight falls on me regardless of where it comes from.

Killing the goose that laid the golden egg comes to mind.

[kparrish1]

I agree with you. I'm watching less and less tv. The only time I really need tv is football season. Which is allmost here YEA.
keith

[The Insider]

If it means a major rate increase yes. It is time the cable co. and sat co. start standing up to these people. The fcc need to allow us to pick and choose the channels we want.
keith

Amen. Its about time the Cable companies, The sat companies etc stand up and say enough is enough. Hell ESPN is robbing people blind. Not only are they chargeing the HIGHEST rates of any channel they also still have commercials. So while they force ads down your throat they take 3+ $ a month from you to watch those ads. At least HBO Showtime etc rob you each month but dont make you sit through 20mins of ads an hour.

However my friend Ala Carte is not the answer. That grass is not greener.

[The Insider]

Entertainment is getting to cost too much--especially TV and movies. I'm finding more and more that reading and building things in my garage are pretty good entertainment, thank you.

I think the next cable bill ATTEMPTED increase will result in a surprise for BHN. Their net revenue from me is gonna drop. The prices are getting to be abusive. I recognize SOME of the upward pressure may not be their fault, but the weight falls on me regardless of where it comes from.

Killing the goose that laid the golden egg comes to mind.

In the 10 years that I can recall BHN/TWCs margin had remained pretty dam close. You can check TWCS SEC Filings, the Margin on the "cable tv" side has remained steady, (Revenue has gone up of course because of new items like phone, internet, ondemand etc). The biggest cost to consumers and cable companies for the service is programming. As it goes up so must the cost to keep the margins the same. In fact the last 2 years at least at BHN The margin has gone down as they did not raise rates nearly as much as programming costs increased.

Its time for consumers to take a stand. Tell ESPN and Disney to go piss up a rope. If ESPN drops from TWC/BHN that is 13million x 3$ a month that Disney will lose. BHN/TWCs losses will be FAR less. (A small fraction). Not to mention the lossed ad money by having 13million less possible eyes on your channel.

And dont give me the crap that ESPN is soo popular it needs the high rate. Even its highest rated broadcast in ESPN history barely beats an avg night for FOX and American Idol. ESPN Can fix the issue real fast and charge whatever they want. Just like I say to all channels who want to charge obsurded rates. Agree to be on a special tier. Let only those people who want the channel pay. ESPN does not want this because they know even if they raised the rate to 5$ a month theyd lose MILLIONS because of the loss of people subscribed.

[jcarrera]

Insider, I believe all that you say, but I have to base my decisions on the amount of the bills I pay--the outflow.

There is a similar issue with cell phone costs. I have a plain, voice only phone--a four year old one at that. I really would like a smart phone, but have decided I will not get one because of the outrageous monthly cost. I even think the bill for the plain phone is too high.

When people have generous disposable income levels, businesses can "push the envelope" on rates charged. That has changed--disposable income has decreased and people are making choices. I know I am.

[Scott Greczkowski]

Remember each time you see your favorite sports star sign a new record contract... that you are the one who is paying them for it...

I agree costs are getting too high, and while I hate to lose programming I do thing that we need to take a stand against these skyrocketing costs.