Brighthouse Seems to be Clueless

[skottey]

I don't understand why you rant about BHN's HD coverage so much.

I enjoy being vocal about things that piss me off. This forum is a great place to vent my frustrations about BHN. I give them credit when they do something good, and bash them when they screw up. They haven't done anything good in a long time and it is annoying they are putting time and effort into Pivot. I just praised them in another thread for On Demand. If they added 10 new channels (not shopping or religion, Spanish, but good ones) tomorrow I'd be the first person to praise them. But months and years go by without any real changes. I enjoy calling them out on their missteps.

 

[stevenl]

Do you not read the things I write or just skim through? As stated BHN IS doing alot to upgrade the network and are working as fast as possible. The CSR does not know what we are doing, Because if they start telling you "It will be upgraded by spring" Then it doesnt happen till winter you will be pissed, So either way you will be mad, Just because the CSR says she/he does not know something doesn't mean something is not happening. THey just simply are not aware of what we do in the field day in and day out.

Dish can increase its capcity in a day by sending up a new bird. It takes YEARS to upgrade thousands of miles of cable. Just this first half of the year we added over 550 miles of plant to our system. It doesnt just magically go down. Not to mention permits and those types of issues, that are dealt with. A road bore in the city of ocoee (they are the worst) can take about 4 weeks! (the job itself takes about 2 hours) but getting the permit is about 4 weeks!

So to say BHN is doing nothing is just wrong. They are working as fast as they can with the circumstances they have to work in.

 

[skottey]

So to say BHN is doing nothing is just wrong. They are working as fast as they can with the circumstances they have to work in.

haha... I love it. You are so defensive of your employer. I only wish I had employees as loyal as you. I work hard to screen my technicians and hire the most reliable and trustworthy but I have yet to find anybody as loyal to my company as you are to yours. They (BHN) are lucky to have you, honestly. I have to give you that. You stand behind BHN through the rise and the fall (falling as of late). You are the kind of employee we business owners often only dream of. Keep up the good work company man. I'm serious.

 

[stevenl]

Thanks for the kind words. But it has nothing to do with "being a company man" Its the truth, if people could only see what really goes on day to day to keep this machine we call a cable system operating youd be very surprised.

I know how dedicated the company appears to be to their employees, and any company who devotes as much time and offers their employees such wonderful benefits without being forced to by some union, if their willing to do that to their employees its a wonder what they are willing to do to their customers. We are constantly changing things adding new things to improve customer experience. I see the projects daily that we are doing to work on stabilizing the plant, and making it more efficient. And as I said just because we are not announcing things does not mean we are not working on things. The majority of work done to the cable plant goes unnoticed, because its usually seamless. We fix a majority of your problems before you know your having a problem. We constantly are upgrading and improving the system to make it better. Roadrunners speed was increased like 3 times in one year with NO cost increase. Their were 40 on-demand channels added, and several other regular channels added just a year ago, with no increase (other then the normal yearly ones). After the hurricanes, Bellsouth(att), Sprint(embarq) Progress energy, Florida power, and OUC all charged customers a surcharge "Hurricane recovery fee" I think one of those companies still charges it, to make up for all the money the companies lost because of the storms. Not only did BHN Not charge any such item, they also FROZE the annual increase for an extra 6 months, to keep our rates stable for our customers. This company may seem like a giant monster, but be it TimeWarner, Cable vision, TVC, or now brighthouse no matter what flag we are under we are still the same group of cable dogs we were 20 years ago when we had a 10 channel network, to the 40channels with the slide boxs, to the nowover 300 channels.

 

[jcarrera]

Pardon me for being cynical, but when you say,

"...they also FROZE the annual increase for an extra 6 months, to keep our rates stable for our customers"

I suspect that other factors played a far greater role in such a decision--
First, BHN would not have done that if the revenue was not already high enough to allow it. And if it was already high enough to do that, then it was already too high.

Further, I suspect that remaining competitive pricewise with their competition played more of a role than the stated altruistic motivation.

If their profit was already at the "right' level, and they still reduced revenue for the altruistic reason, then their shareholders should be all over them.

 

[stevenl]

Pardon me for being cynical, but when you say,

"...they also FROZE the annual increase for an extra 6 months, to keep our rates stable for our customers"

I suspect that other factors played a far greater role in such a decision--
First, BHN would not have done that if the revenue was not already high enough to allow it. And if it was already high enough to do that, then it was already too high.

Further, I suspect that remaining competitive pricewise with their competition played more of a role than the stated altruistic motivation.

If their profit was already at the "right' level, and they still reduced revenue for the altruistic reason, then their shareholders should be all over them.

Other companies in the area Increased their rates, as normal, BHN held off on doing so. BHN is a private company they dont have shareholders to bow down to just so ya know.

And at the time BHN Orlando's only competition was Adelphia (now comcast) Adelphias rates went up as normal, and they charged surcharges as did every other company in Florida basically. They even charged extra fees, to repair all the damage from hurricanes. BHN ate all the costs and did the repairs for free to the customers.

The annual rate hikes that happen each year are based on a number of factors. Mainly because each time new services are added you dont get a rate increase. When BHN adds new channels they dont automatically increase everyones rate. They do it once per year to make up for the extra costs of the new services added. and the rate increases have avged about 4% and most the time they also include reductions in costs of certain items. Like box rental fees and remote fees have all gone down.

 

[jcarrera]

"BHN held off on [raising rates]..."
"BHN ate all the costs and did the repairs for free to the customers. "

That is just a repeat of the original points you made that started this discussion.

It is an obvious conclusion they could do this because they were collecting, or had already collected, sufficient revenue to allow them to do it-- EVEN WITH THE COSTS OF THE DAMAGES ADDED INTO THE MIX. If they covered those costs without getting additional revenue, then clearly they must have had the extra cash (collected from customers) to do it with.

I am assuming they didn't go out and borrow the funds.

This is just pure logic: they did it, therefore they had the cash to do it.

 

[dukandhide]

Stevenl, I am not sure what you do at BHN but a service tech was just at my house last week. Service tech told me about how he is switching to Satellite himself, he says there is no hope for BHN to atleast match Satellite. Tech told me about how BHN is owned by some investers who do not even live in FL, Its hard to see upgrades when the owner sits nice in NYC making money.

Here is a list of the new channels BHN will not be adding

Animal Planet
Big Ten Network
CNN
Discovery
Food Network (This is not a simulcast, but more of a showcase of this channels shows that are produced in HD)
HGTV (This is not a simulcast, but more of a showcase of this channels shows that are produced in HD)
History Channel
MHD (MTV brand channel)
National Geographic
NFL Network
The Science Channel
TBS
TLC
Versus
Weather Channel
Cinemax-E
Cinemax-W
MoreMax
HBO-W
HBO2-E
HBO2-W
HBO Family-E
HBO Family-W
HBO Signature
The Movie Channel
SHO-W
STARZ-E
STARZ-W
STARZ-Edge
STARZ-Comedy
STARZ-Kids
Bravo
Cartoon Network
Chiller
CNBC
FX
SciFi Channel
Sleuth
Speed
USA Network
Altitude
Comcast SportsNet Chicago
Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic
FSN Arizona
FSN Bay Area
FSN Detroit
FSN Florida
FSN New England
FSN North
FSN Northwest
FSN Ohio
FSN Prime Ticket
FSN Rocky Mountain
FSN South
FSN Southwest
FSN West
NESN
SportsNet New York
SportsSouth
Sun Sports
YES
FSN Midwest
FSN Houston
FSN New York
FSN Pittsburgh
MSG
FSN Cincinnati
Comcast SportsNet West
MASN/SportsTime Ohio

I live in Orlando and I know there is no hope when BHN can not even add FSN, ateast not add it in Orlando. I never post in the forum but I find it hard to think someone would defend BHN, so I post. Being in the Army I have moved around alot, had plenty cable providers. I will say BHN has some of the best tech support, but lacks upgrading, information and staying ahead of other cable providers. Defind BHN all you want but just look at the list of channels, can you point out one we might get in 2-4 months?

Also this new HD demand channel is a joke, bunch of 5 mins clips

 

[stevenl]

hmm, BHN Is owned by Advance newhouse a very large publishing company. it is not owned by "A bunch of investors" But a single company. the company is based on NYC as are many fortune 500 companies. The "Florida Groups" Main office is in orlando.

Im assumeing the channels you speak of above are the "HD Versions" Because alot of those channels they have the STD version of.

I dont understand what FSN Houston would do for bhn, or fsn new york..

Also You mentioned a ton of channels BHN already has so im not sure what that list is for. or why BHN would invest in regional sports channels from other cities. Perhaps when Analog band is eliminated BHN could do that, but right now space is limited, tell uncle sam to let BHN get rid of the analog band and space for 700 new channels would be opend right up.

if BHN upgraded its entire plant to 1ghz itd give them room for maybe 200 more std channels. At a cost in the hundreds of millions.. If uncle sam allowed the elimination of the analog tier, they would get 700 new channels at a cost of 0. Do the math friend. BHN Is a business their in business to make money not lose it. The small minority of HD fanatics is far outweighed by the people who really dont care. So BHN Focus's on the majorities. Its called smart business. Dish has to focus on a national audiance. BHN gets to focus on its local audiances and what they want/need. If you want national coverage then Dish is the way to go.. If you want local tv service then your local cable company is your best bet. Dish is also good for international programming.

 

[iceturkee]

call me crazy that the regional sports nets will now go on conus at directv but here's what this means for the sports fan with sports subscriptions. that means all games that are broadcast in hd will be made available not just the ones in my region. that's huge. more son when you consider bhn still doesn't even have fsn florida in sd.

 

[dukandhide]

Stevenl, All those channels are Directv announced HD channels that Directv will be adding. I can care less about FSN in other areas, I just wanted to show the list of HD channels. Name one of those channels that you can see being added to the HD lineup? With this new law I cant wait for Comcast to get here, I find it hard for a small company like BHN to actually do something. I still do not understand how we live in FL and have no FSN, Tampa BHN gets FSN but we do not. As soon as most HD new comers figure out what true HD is, BHN is going to have some serious problems. I will be honest and say I am very worried about going to Directv over picture issues, but if FSN is not added with some HD content and I can no longer watch Magic games I will have to switch

 

[vlj9r]

I left BHN about 18 months ago because I did not like their PQ and DVR. Pretty soon I will be able tell if I made the right choice. So far DTV's DVR keeps getting better especially if you participate in their cutting edge download program. They are currently testing VOD and remote scheduling of the DVR.

Time will tell...

 

[Impala1ss]

I consider myself an "educated" consumer. I read all there is about HDTV, who provides what, the bitrate, compression, etc., etc. I am happy with all aspects of Brighthouse's HD operation EXCEPT their lack of committment to adding new channels. Someone mentioned the marketplace taking care of Brighthouse. Well, in my life, I am the marketplace. I will be getting D* next week and letting BHN go. It has been a frustrating ride.

If BHN doesn't care about losing my $135/month, I sure don't care about not paying it. Their lack of information ref their plans for additional HD channels has a lot of customers looking to switch. BHN can not get me back for 2 years because of D*'s contract; their loss.

Previous posts comparing costs do not factor in D*'s new HD channels coming this month, nor the next satellite they're launching in the not too distant future. Also with D*'s DVR i can connect wirelessly to my computer and watch my photos on the TV and listen to my MP3's. I read that I will receive XM radio also but I haven't confirmed that.

As far as costs, for the next 4 months I will get all the premium channels, SD and HD free. I will get a $50 Visa giftcard, a HD-DVR costing$200, the premium(?) sports pack (I don't care because I don't watch sports), a $10/month reduction in prices, and more. My TV bill will decrease the first year from $135 to about $90/month but i will retain Road Runner and pay BHN for it. Basically, my bill remains the same for a lot more HD channels, and a seeming committment to increase the number of HD channels in the future.

What could BHN have doen to keep me? - Just talk to me and tell me what is happening. Canned speeches from CSR's is not communication.

Who gained? D* for sure; me, I believe; and who lost? BHN, of course. Only time will tell if I made the right decision but it seems right, right now.

 

[iceturkee]

when i canceled my cable in february, bhn did call me and ask how they could keep me as a customer. i told them the following: give me more sports in hd and give me 100 new hd channels by the end of the year. can you do that? bhn: no. i hung up.

i have kept road runner and their digital phone. i have no problems with either one of these. but, despite, the fact i do know some people at bhn who have worked within my budget, the lack of hd and their response to such, is totally unsatisfactory!

 

[stevenl]

Everyone has their reason for choosing a provider. All any provider can do is try to make the majority happy. and the fact remains judging by BHNS very low churn rate compared to its competitors it is doing something right. Sure they can improve. Id prefer we dumped the analog band completely made more tiered services to offer customers who don't want expensive channels like espn and most sports channels to be able to get just the basic services at a lower rate. Perhaps a larger tier group then they have "Family Tier" "Sports Tier" etc etc would be real nice I think and help the customers. Although I think it would make the pricing a bit more expensive but at least this way you will only get the type of programming you want to pay for.

 

[Impala1ss]

I hate to leave BHN. I really enjoyed their committment to picture quality. Whoever's idea (in BHN Management) it is to "not say anything" about future plans for more HD should be fired. In this day of more information is better, their decision makers are way behind the times and have reached the "Peter Principal" rergarding marketing and retaining long-time customers. I can only hope I get similar PQ on D* under MPEG-4.

 

[iceturkee]

the local channels that are in mpeg-4 have very good pq and people claim they are as good as OTA. i don't have an antenna so i can't say for sure. but i can say that most days i have no complaints.

 

[Impala1ss]

Next Monday's the date for installation of D*. Wish me luck that it all goes smoothly.

 

[iceturkee]

you should be fine impala!

 

[LonghornXP]

Lets look at the real picture here based on what most HD owners today would order. I believe most HD owners have only one HDTV set with two normal sets. So I believe most HD customers would get one HD DVR and two basic digital boxes. So lets look at the true costs of each company. I also believe that most of these customers would order all the movie channels as well.

BHN pricing.

55.00 - digital cable (first box rental fee included)
10.00 - HD DVR Service Fee
14.00 - two basic box rentals (6.95 x 2)
4.00 - Digital Movie PAK (Encore channels)
6.00 - HD PAK
40.00 - 5-Pak Movie bundle

129.00/month before taxes.

3,096.00 total cost over two years.

DirecTV pricing.

70.00 - Plus HD DVR Package
10.00 - lease fee for two basic boxes.
6.00 - Protection Plan (gives free service calls and hardware replacement)
42.00 - Movie channel bundle

128.00 - total programming cost.
9.00 - HD DVR hardware cost (200 + 20 S&H = 220.00 spread over two years).

137.00 - Total overall cost per month.

3,288.00 - Total cost for two years of service.

So as we can see BHN costs 192 bucks less total over a two year period.

If you bought two drinks (soda from machine @ 1.00/bottle) at work each week for two years that is more money than the cost of the upfront HD DVR cost with D*.

That is such a small amount of money it should in no way justify who you subscribe with.

Also don't forget that the third year and on with D* will be cheaper than BHN but I tend not to consider pricing that far out as things can change to skew everything.

Because its such a small amount of money over that two year period it really comes down to what you want from each company and cost should not be the deciding factor in this specific case. Sorry but when your spending over 1,500.00 a year I don't want to hear that spending an extra 100 bucks will make the whole family broke. If your that close on money you shouldn't be spending the 1,500.00 in the first place at least that is my thinking on it.