Giant Cable Companies Merging Is Bad for You; Only Savior Is an Uber for the Internet

How much do you like your cable and Internet service provider? The answer is likely to fall on the spectrum from “strongly dislike” to “it is the literal spawn of the devil.”

We all generally feel this way and yet we’re not really sure what to do about it. These guys are the Goliaths and we’re a bunch of Davids. And now the Goliaths want to team up.

Earlier this year, we almost had the Comcast and Time Warner Cable merger, which thankfully never made it off the ground. Now with Comcast, the Goliath-est of the cable/internet providers, on the sidelines, we have the making of a new super-Goliath, with Charter Communications attempting to purchase Time Warner Cable for approximately $55 billion and Bright House Networks for $10.4 billion.

This is bad news for you and will only make the cable company you have and hate now more hateable. And the sad thing is, David can actually beat Goliath — we’ve seen it happen. It’s why the solution is an Uber for the Internet.

On a recent Uber trip, the driver missed a couple turns, causing the trip to last a few minutes longer than it should have been. The driver was cool about it and apologetic — not a huge deal. I gave him 5 stars but made a note about the turn mishaps. The next day I was refunded a third of the trip with a quick email saying sorry. They didn’t have to do it, but that small gesture doesn’t phase Uber and makes me a more loyal customer.

Uber cares if you have a bad experience. Uber gives a shit — whereas your cable and Internet company DGAF. Have you ever had a service interruption and your Internet wasn’t working properly for a couple hours, or days? Ever try to call up your Internet service provider and get some sort of rebate? Please. Your Internet provider doesn’t ultimately care if you have shitty service. There’s no incentive for them to win you over. In most areas, between two-thirds and three-quarters of the country, there is no other Internet option. What are you going to do, stop using the Internet? ‘Ha ha you have no say in the matter, so write your congressman or something (by the way, we own them too).’

Via: Mediaite

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Comcast ‘Doesn’t Give a F*ck About You’

Cable giant Comcast is on the verge of acquiring other cable giant Time Warner Cable and many people, including Sen. Al Franken (D-MN), are concerned about one company controlling such a large percentage of the TV and internet market. This new video from Funny or Die pretty much sums why the lack of competition in this space could be so problematic.

As the fake spokesperson for Comcast says in the video below, “No matter what happens, we don’t give a fuck about you.” He goes on explain that abandoning cable TV for Netflix or Hulu won’t work either because Comcast owns Hulu and makes Netflix pay them extra for streaming content. Basically, you will never be able to escape Comcast’s grasp.

“So thank you for choosing Comcast,” he says with a laugh. “You don’t have a choice. Hey America, go fuck yourselves.

Via: Mediaite. com

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CBS and Time Warner win; viewers lose in cable dispute

So here's the final score: Time Warner Cable got some but not all of what it wanted. CBS got pretty much everything that it wanted.

And after a month of being denied access to CBS, Showtime and other popular channels, Time Warner subscribers got the certainty of even costlier monthly bills and the assurance that money-grubbing squabbles among multibillion-dollar media giants will continue.

Excuse me if I'm not exactly thrilled about this week's conclusion to the latest in a series of go-ahead-make-my-day confrontations between greedy corporations.

Moreover, why aren't our elected officials hopping mad about these ongoing industry food fights and racing to pass legislation aimed at finally giving consumers a break from the endless cycle of rising pay-TV bills?

"We need regulators who are willing to stop powerful special interests, whether broadcasters or cable firms, that use consumers as pawns in their spats," said Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.

"In the long run, we need better rules, including a la carte pricing, to help change the video marketplace," he said.

I've been pushing for years for a la carte pricing — paying only for the channels you want. More on that in a moment.

First, let's sample the bury-the-hatchet statements released by Time Warner Cable and CBS after they made the peace.

Glenn Britt, Time Warner's chief exec, said the company's hard-nosed bargaining stance was guided by wanting "to hold down costs and retain our ability to deliver a great video experience for our customers."

"While we certainly didn't get everything we wanted, ultimately we ended up in a much better place than when we started," he said.

Via: LA Times

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