Adelphia subs to lose ESPNU and NFL Network

[Juan]

When TW takes over http://www.uticaod.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060728/NEWS/607280323/1001/NEWS01

 

[iceturkee]

there is an interesting story that was posted at usatoday.com friday. evidently, the nfl network is about to undertake a massive advertising campaign, aimed at the cable systems that don't carry their channel. they are going at time warner hot and heavy!!

 

[toadfannc]

That's right-- all you Adelphia subs should email Fred Dressler (VP of Programming for TWC) and DEMAND the NFL Network (SD/HD), ESPN2HD, and ESPNU.

fred.dressler@twcable.com

Not that it will do any good ... he's been ignoring the THOUSANDS of requests for the NFL Network since it's been launched.

Otherwise, you'll be joining us unfortunate TWC subs with the WORST sports programming of all cable and satellite operators.

 

[LonghornXP]

I was always under the impression that existing deals that a local system had would remain available to customers until they ran out. So that means that NFL Network, Starz HD, Starz On Demand, Encore On Demand, Cinemax HD and ESPNU would remain until the original contracts run out. Now once they run out that would be another question.

Maybe I'm wrong on this but I just can't imagine the FCC approving a deal like this if customers would lose big time channels like this when it was never their choice to switch companies.

 

[toadfannc]

I was always under the impression that existing deals that a local system had would remain available to customers until they ran out. So that means that NFL Network, Starz HD, Starz On Demand, Encore On Demand, Cinemax HD and ESPNU would remain until the original contracts run out. Now once they run out that would be another question.

Maybe I'm wrong on this but I just can't imagine the FCC approving a deal like this if customers would lose big time channels like this when it was never their choice to switch companies.

Nope. Check this article out (from the AVS Forum) about the Buffalo Adelphia customers getting screwed by TWC once they are absorbed:

Time Warner giving boot to NFL Network

By ALAN PERGAMENT
News TV Critic
7/28/2006

The NFL Network very likely will be thrown for a loss Tuesday locally and nationally when it is expected to be dropped from the cable lineup after Adelphia's long-awaited takeover by Time Warner is completed.
With the Buffalo Bills opening training camp and the league's network planning to carry 52 preseason games, the likely move to drop the channel couldn't come at a worse time for the local Adelphia subscribers who will be switched to Time Warner on Tuesday.

Buffalo, Dallas and Cleveland are the three NFL markets that had been getting The NFL Network and will lose it in the Adelphia-Time Warner deal, according to an NFL Network spokesman.

"We pleaded to be left on while we continue to negotiate," e-mailed the spokesman, "especially since the first of 52 preseason games and 12 inside training camp shows begin, but Time Warner refused."

Gordon Harp, the Buffalo division president of Time Warner, confirmed Thursday night that the cable company is notifying subscribers through newspaper advertisements and other means of the strong possibility that the football network that currently is available on basic cable in Western New York will be dropped on Tuesday.

"We're providing notification in case it happens," Harp said. "We're still negotiating. Hopefully, we'll work out an agreement."

However, the advertisement plans and the fact that Time Warner hasn't been able to make a national deal with The NFL Network for three years makes a quick, positive resolution very unlikely.

A spokesman for The NFL Network said it plans to launch its own marketing campaign to let Buffalo viewers understand their options. It has set up a number, (866) 635-6389 (NFL-Network), for people to complain to Time Warner about the planned move. The NFL Network also is making cable subscribers aware that it has reached deals with satellite providers Dish Network and DirecTV on their "most affordable, basic packages."

Adelphia had put The NFL Network, which launched in November 2003, on basic cable locally when it folded the Empire Sports Network. Long term, the move also was designed to compete with satellite providers.

Time Warner's quick move to drop The NFL Network is a surprise since cable systems are believed to need 30 days notice before dropping a channel.

"They contend [they don't]," explained the NFL Network spokesman.


http://www.buffalonews.com/editoria...728/1027649.asp

 

[Marcus Carr]

FCC Orders NFL Back on Time Warner
8/3/2006 8:24:00 AM

Washington – The Federal Communications Commission has ordered Time Warner Cable to reinstate the NFL Network on systems Time Warner acquired this week from Adelphia Communications Corp.

The National Football League, which owns the network, had claimed FCC rules require cable operators to provide consumers a 30-day notice before dropping a channel if carriage of the channel “is within the control of the cable operator.”
NFLN said it gave Time Warner permission to carry the network for 30 days. Dropping the channel immediately violated FCC rules, NFL said, because whether to carry the channel on a short-term basis was within Time Warner’s control. The network asked the FCC to order Time Warner to restore carriage for the required 30-day period.

Time Warner Cable had said in response the company was “in full compliance with the FCC’s notification rules.”

http://multichannel.com/article/CA6359114.html?display=Breaking+News

 

[Juan]

FCC Orders NFL Back on Time Warner
8/3/2006 8:24:00 AM

Washington – The Federal Communications Commission has ordered Time Warner Cable to reinstate the NFL Network on systems Time Warner acquired this week from Adelphia Communications Corp.

The National Football League, which owns the network, had claimed FCC rules require cable operators to provide consumers a 30-day notice before dropping a channel if carriage of the channel “is within the control of the cable operator.”
NFLN said it gave Time Warner permission to carry the network for 30 days. Dropping the channel immediately violated FCC rules, NFL said, because whether to carry the channel on a short-term basis was within Time Warner’s control. The network asked the FCC to order Time Warner to restore carriage for the required 30-day period.

Time Warner Cable had said in response the company was “in full compliance with the FCC’s notification rules.”

http://multichannel.com/article/CA6359114.html?display=Breaking+News

I wonder why this doesnt apply to e*