COMMENTARY
Alan Pergament: Rate hike shocks no one
It probably shouldn’t surprise anyone following Time Warner Cable’s recent national battles with the owner of Channel 4 and the owner of such cable channels as Comedy Central, MTV and VH-1 that a rate increase is on the way.
Happy New Year. The cable company routinely sends out releases to your friendly local television critic announcing the addition of HD channels, phone service extras and community service awards.
But how did we learn of the cable increase on the way Feb. 1? Through a monthly brochure sent to cable subscribers last week that reviewed the positives of what happened in 2008 and added “what to expect in 2009.”
Of course, a rate increase hardly was unexpected. Tucked in the corner of one of the four colorful pages in small type were the rate hikes planned for broadcast service (up $1 monthly to $10), standard basic service (up $3.45 to $61.14), digital basic (up $4 month to $63.95), and DVR service (up $1 to $7.95) and various tiers.
The All the Best program that combines digital cable, high-speed Internet and phone service is up $6 to $125.95. The phone and cable package and the Internet and cable packages go up $6 to $95.95. The phone and Internet package goes up $6 to $80.95.
Robin Wolfgang, the local Time Warner spokeswoman, said that subscribers to All the Best and the other packages can keep 2008 rates by signing up for the price lock guarantee program by the end of January. The program requires a two-year commitment, she said.
“The best way for customers to save money is to bundle their services,” said Wolfgang. “We have added many new services. Of course, our biggest expense is for programming. While we fight to keep the costs down, we still think we provide a great entertainment value.”
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that the deals that Time Warner has made with local TV stations and program suppliers like Viacom (owner of MTV, Comedy Central and several other channels) have increased its costs and those costs have to be made up somewhere.
Before Time Warner made last week’s deal with Viacom, Glenn Britt, the president and chief executive officer of Time Warner, issued a statement that said the company has “to pass on at least a portion” of programming increases to its customers.
“Viacom’s MTV Networks are just a few of the hundreds of channels we carry,” wrote Britt. “If every channel demanded huge, double-digit increases like what Viacom is trying to force our customers to pay, it would be impossible to keep the price of cable reasonable for our customers.”
Of course, Time Warner’s definition of what is reasonable may differ from yours.
However, cable subscribers should realize that any time they see popular basic cable programs like “Monday Night Football,” Buffalo Sabres hockey, “The Daily Show,” “The Closer,” “Leverage,” “Nip/Tuck,” or “Damages,” they’ll essentially be paying for them through the per subscriber fees that Time Warner has to pay the channels that carry them.
Time Warner also plans to charge a per subscriber fee for its upcoming new 24-hour news channel, essentially transferring money from one pocket to another. Terence Rafferty, the local division president, told me last month that any rate increases wouldn’t be the result of the planned 24-hour news channel.
Of course, the per subscriber costs for services are generally kept private, which means subscribers don’t know how much they are paying for each channel. That is cable’s dirty little secret.
The details of the eleventh-hour deal that kept Comedy Central and MTV on Time Warner systems Thursday weren’t revealed.
Cuts like a knife
Speaking of “Nip/Tuck,” it returns for another season at 10 tonight on FX. I know people — including college professors — who swear by this bizarre program about a pair of plastic surgeons with crazy social lives and patients.
I’ve never been a fan, but I checked out the premiere. Almost instantly I was repulsed by the violent story line, which included a repeat airing of the knifing in the last episode that led to a bloody mess. The sexual content also is high for a basic cable series, which is one reason that it has been the target of conservative watchdog groups.
Needless to say, tonight the doctors played by Dylan Walsh and Julian McMahon have another set of painful, disturbing complications to their crazy lives, usually set to nostalgic music. Count me out.
An eye on the Bulls
The University at Buffalo’s loss to UConn on Saturday afternoon in the International Bowl was a local ratings hit. The game on ESPN 2 averaged a 16.5 rating, representing 16.5 percent of Western New York homes. To put that in perspective, UB’s afternoon game on cable outrated San Diego’s overtime victory over Indianapolis (16.2) on Channel 2, the local NBC affiliate. It also outrated Arizona’s earlier win over Atlanta (12.6).
Glor fills in
Jeff Glor, the Buffalo native who joined CBS News almost two years ago, caught quite a break on New Year’s week. The Syracuse University graduate anchored the CBS Evening News in place of a vacationing Katie Couric. When Glor was hired in April 2007 by CBS, one network executive said that he “has great potential to become a star.”
Following her heart
Before I went on vacation and well before Monday’s premiere of the latest addition of ABC’s “The Bachelor,” my spies alerted me to the last name of the former Batavia teacher trying to win the heart of the latest bachelor, Jason Mesnick. According to reality TV fan sites, her name is Sharon Staebell and she is a former Spanish teacher and volleyball coach at Victor High School. ABC’s publicity department reported that she quit her job to be on the show. Looking at it positively, I suppose she is teaching her former students to follow their hearts.
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