Not necessarily a criticism but merely a thought...if you watch CBS-2 (WFMY) News @ Noon, it sounds like a community bulletin board for 22 minutes. Where's the hard news, Channel 2? List the upcoming events on your website, and save the news...for the news.
Time for your daily dose of Road Runner Rampage...the rampage over Time Warner's new internet metering billing scheme for its Road Runner internet service.
1. WZTK's Brad & Britt (101.1fm) are publicly defending their decision not to discuss the Time-Warner situation on their morning radio show. See, Time Warner advertises heavily on the duo's show, with both airing original spots on behalf of the cable giant.Britt Whitmire is extremely tech savvy and has dragged his older partner, Brad Krantz, kicking and grumbling into the world of Facebook and Twitter. Britt’s even joined the fake Twitterer’s club and created for-fun accounts for Fake Dan Rather and Little Rush so we can enjoy his musings at any time of the day or night. But even Britt seems powerless to rock the boat when it comes to corporate sponsorship.
When the news about Time Warner’s preposterous rate changes first broke in Greensboro, I sent an @reply to Britt to see if they could raise the topic on their morning show. Britt’s response disappointed me, but deep down, I understood it. I often must resist writing blog posts critical of services or companies for which I do design work for at the Iconfactory. But unlike Britt, my job isn’t to get people talking about national and local news & events. FM Talk’s management have no doubt cut the duo out of the loop on this important issue, which is unsettling.
Britt tells gedblog:
Just to clarify, neither of us has been told by management to avoid the topic. We have made that decision on our own.
So there...
The announcement was met with outrage from customers and threats of legislation to block the change. In reaction, Time Warner postponed its tests in Austin and San Antonio, big areas for tech business.
For the Triad and Rochester, the company announced two additional tiers, including a “budget” tier allowing 1 GB of data use per month for just $15 and a “super-tier” allowing up to 100 GB of data use for $75. The company also said it would limit overage fees to no more than $75, essentially creating an “unlimited” plan for those willing to pay the fees.
Many Triad customers are still angry about the plan, saying that Time Warner has a virtual monopoly on high speed cable Internet in the area and is using it to make customers pay more unless they bundle services, order Digital Phone service or pay more for a Business Class Internet plan. Customers have contacted city leaders, state representatives and even their congressmen. Other customers have filed complaints with the Better Business Bureau and contacted the attorney general's office.
3. Apparently, the Triad is not tech-savvy enough. Whereas Time Warner postponed this scheme in Austin and San Antonio, Greensboro and Rochester have become ground zero in this protest. And that has small businesses up in arms. As Ed Cone said over the weekend, this proposal threatens the livelihood of tech businesses, small businesses, and for that matter...anyone who chooses to call the Triad home.
Today's News & Record points this out:
“It’s the same amount of bandwidth if you use their service or someone else’s,” said Stephen Matlin, a self-employed Greensboro Web designer who uses Skype for phone calls through his Time Warner Cable Internet service. “Why would they charge only the people who choose not to pay for their digital phone service? It’s to discourage competition, to penalize you unless you subscribe with them.”
Last week, Greensboro Mayor Yvonne Johnson said she would look into bringing in competing Internet providers such as AT&T U-Verse and Verizon FiOS but no progress has yet been reported.
City leaders in High Point said they’re also concerned about how it will affect residents — especially business people.
“To single our area out at a time when we’re trying to attract new business, when everyone is trying to cut costs, is bad for the city,” High Point City Councilman Mike Pugh said. “We shouldn’t be at that disadvantage.”
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E.C. :)
1. Ed Cone inks a great column in yesterday's News & Record talking about the potential economic impact from Time Warner's flawed scheme.And their latest pricing model, released late last week stirred up even more angry feelings among local consumers. Like Ryan Shell says, it is becoming a local public relations nightmare for the local cable monopoly.This is a big deal for local consumers. Even if you don't watch much Web video now, your habits might change as your options continue to grow. Renting DVDs is unnecessary when movies arrive via the 'Net. Television shows, new and old, are available online whenever you want to watch them. Last year's Olympics were online, too -- but the site had a warning label advising people with metered plans not to watch. Meanwhile, applications beyond entertainment, such as communications with your health care providers, will become increasingly popular.
There are broader issues as well. As a test market, we will face economic development constraints not felt by other cities across the country.
3. Time-Warner owned-News 14 Carolina also is stepping up its advertisements lately (have you noticed???)...saying it's not available on Direct TV, not available on Dish, not available from the phone company. Think they're feeling the pressure, by proxy?
Judges with the state Court of Appeals have granted approval for the Rhino Times to go to court to determine the actual and punitive damages to be awarded in its long-withstanding trial with the Ku Klux Klan. At least, they recognized that they caused a firestorm.***************************Statement from Landel Hobbs, Chief Operating Officer, Time Warner Cable
RE: Consumption based billing trials
4-9-09
Some recent press reports about our four consumption based billing trials planned for later this year were premature and did not tell the full story. With that said, we realize our communication to customers about these trials has been inadequate and we apologize for any frustration we caused. We’ve heard the passionate feedback and we’ve taken action to address our customers’ concerns.
With the ever-increasing flood of content on the Internet, bandwidth consumption is growing exponentially. That’s a good thing; however, there are costs associated with this increased Internet usage. Here at Time Warner Cable, consumption among our high-speed Internet subscribers is increasing by about 40% a year. As a facilities based provider, we’ve built a network that must be maintained and upgraded. We have increasing variable costs and we have to continue to invest in the network itself.
This is a common problem that all network providers are experiencing and must address. Several other providers have instituted consumption based billing, including all major network providers in Canada and others in the U.K., New Zealand and elsewhere. In the U.S., AT&T has begun two consumption based billing trials and other providers including Comcast, Charter and Cox are using varying methods of monitoring and managing bandwidth consumption.
For good reason. Internet demand is rising at a rate that could outpace capacity within a few years. According to industry analysts, the infrastructure may not be able to accommodate the explosion of online content by 2012. This could result in Internet brownouts. It will take a lot of money to fix the problem. Rather than raising prices on all customers or limiting usage, we think the fairest approach is to move to a tiered model in which users pay more if they use more.
If we don’t act, consumers’ Internet experience will suffer. Sitting still is not an option. That’s why we’re beginning the consumption based billing trials. It’s important to stress that they are trials. The feedback we’ve received from our customers has been very helpful. We’ve made changes to the terms in our current and upcoming trial markets as follows:
• To accommodate lighter Internet users and those who need a lower priced option, we are introducing a 1 GB per month tier offering speeds of 768 KB/128 KB for $15 per month. Overage charges will be $2 per GB per month. Our usage data show that about 30% of our customers use less than 1 GB per month.
• We are increasing the bandwidth tier sizes included in all existing packages in the trial markets to 10, 20, 40 and 60 GB for Road Runner Lite, Basic, Standard and Turbo packages, respectively. Package prices will remain the same. Overage charges will be $1 per GB per month.
• We will introduce a 100 GB Road Runner Turbo package for $75 per month (offering speeds of 10 MB/1 MB). Overage charges will be $1 per GB per month.
• Overage charges will be capped at $75 per month. That means that for $150 per month customers could have virtually unlimited usage at Turbo speeds.
• Once we implement this trial, we will not immediately start billing customers for overage. Rather, we will first provide two months of usage data. Then we will provide a one-month grace period in which overages will be noted on customers’ bills, but they will not be charged. So, customers will have an opportunity to assess their usage and right-size their service packages before usage charges are applied.
• Trials will begin in Rochester, N.Y., and Greensboro, N.C., in August. We will apply what we learn from these two markets when we launch trials in San Antonio and Austin, Texas, in October, but we will guarantee at least the same level of usage capacity in these trials.
• As we launch DOCSIS 3.0 in the trial markets, we plan to offer a 50/5 MB speed tier for $99 per month.
Again, the Internet is dynamic and continually evolves, so our plans will evolve as well and aren’t set in stone. We appreciate the feedback we’ve received. We’ll look forward to more dialogue as we progress in these trials. You can send your comments and feedback to us at realideas@twcable.com.
Landel Hobbs
COO
Time Warner Cable
For questions, etc:
Jeff Simmermon
Director, Digital Communications
Time Warner Cable
Find us on Twitter at: @jeffTWC, @MsmarTWC, @MelissaTWC_TX
Honestly it makes less sense to me than the first set of plans did. Can you look into it and let us know what it means? To me it looks like I will pay close to $150 for my internet when my current cable bill plus internet is only $120 (Internet is $49). On the bright side it looks like we are getting faster speeds so we can go over the cap quicker.I would tend to agree. I'll be monitoring what Roch and Sue say later today and will have a follow-up shortly.
Thank you
Bruce
Burlington Times-News editor Madison Taylor writes in his blog a few days ago that any rumors regarding the early demise of the Burlington Times-News is just that...rumors.Today, however, the Times-News is part of the rumor. We did not create this situation. It’s now my job to clean it up. Whether that’s fair or not isn’t the issue. It’s my job.
So here it goes: The Times-News is not closing - not no way, not no how. We are not shutting the doors and locking them behind us today or next week or next month or six months from now.
There, I said it.
Need more? Well, our reporters are still reporting, our photographers are still shooting and Frances Woody continues her remarkable run of dispensing common sense advice and two columns a week. Our advertising agents are traversing the asphalt for clients, our graphics artists are designing and our classified advertising representatives are standing by. At night our copy editors are writing headlines, our pressmen are plating up and carriers are depositing our daily product upon thousands of Alamance County driveways.
And for those who come through the front door, Vicki Davis is there with a smile same as always.
I submit this for your approval, as the late Rod Serling might’ve said, to clear up a, “Rumor has it …” in the community that the Times-News is closing and soon. In short, it’s untrue and then some. Fact is, the Times-News is operating in the black even as some of our larger brethren are deep in the red.
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E.C. :)
TMW learns that the Danville Register & Bee has been saved from extinction, partly due to a new editor...in Danville (not Lynchburg).Rumor has it that Robert Benson is the new editor of The Danville Register and Bee. That's possibly the BEST thing that could have happened to the newspaper. Robert has toiled hard behind the scenes, kept his mouth shut when he was supposed to and opened when it was expedient. An award winning writer he knows Danville, has solid values and COULD quite possibly turn the newspaper around if Lynchburg doesn't hamstring him. Look for good things from Robert once things settle down. He's waited a long time for this. Congratulations Robert!!E.C. :)
The Business Journal reports WUNC (91.5FM) has opened its long-awaited Greensboro studio. Located on S. Elm Street just above Triad Stage, the NPR affiliate will use its new facility to continue improving its service to the Triad. Reporter Jessica Jones, who joined WUNC in 1999, will staff the bureau, the article says.
WTQR (104.1 FM) afternoon personality Bill "Brother Bill" Dotson spoke with NBC-12 (WXII) last week about his recent battle with lung cancer."Freaked me out dude. I was on an emotional roller coaster there for awhile," he said. "But I was lucky because we caught it early."He expects to back to work in a few weeks.
Media Daily News reports that 42 million Americans over the age of 12 listen to radio during an average week, more than double the 2005 figure of 20 million, and up 27% from 33 million in 2008. The figures mean that online radio currently reaches about 17% of Americans over the age of 12, up from about 8% in 2005 and 13% in 2008.This week, Katz Online Network and Ando Media renewed and expanded their deal for measurement of radio audience. Under the terms of the new deal, data from Ando's measurement platform will be made available, in real time, to all national sales agents who work in digital radio. Overall, the Katz Online Network delivers more than 4 million listeners per week, or 10% of the total online radio audience according to the figures from Arbitron and Edison Research.
In October, Targetspot, another big online radio ad network, acquired Ronning Lipset Radio, creating a combined network of over 1,000 online radio stations, including the Web portals of traditional radio stations. At the time, the network reached more than 6 million listeners a week. Among the merged network's partners are CBS Radio, Entercom, Yahoo, AOL and Live 365.
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E.C. :)
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