Comcast customers in Philadelphia are organizing to stop the cable company from winning a 15-year franchise renewal to continue providing service in the city unless the cable operator changes its ways after years of rate increases and poor customer service.

CAP Comcast! argues Comcast is not paying its fair share and is not a good corporate citizen in the city.

“Comcast has outsized power in a Philadelphia still suffering under economic crisis,” says the group. While the company charges some of the highest cable rates in the country, it has successfully earned $64 billion in revenue and an extremely low corporate tax bill.

“During the last franchise negotiation, Philadelphia elected officials and appointed leaders secured important resources for our city, including funds for public access television, and about $17 million a year for Philadelphia’s general fund,” said Bryan Mercer, co-executive director at Media Mobilizing Project. “But since that time, Philadelphia has shuttered over 20 schools and slashed services that our communities need.  Comcast pays less than 4% in corporate tax revenue, in a state where the average is almost 10%. And they’re getting $40 million in subsidies for their new planned building. If Comcast wants a chance to profit from our communities, Philadelphia should ensure Comcast pays their fair share, or invite other communications companies to serve our city.”

Among the group’s key arguments:

CAP Comcast! is asking for a five-year rate freeze for Comcast services while increasing broadband speeds and access to all Philadelphians. It also seeks fair treatment for Public, Educational, and Government access channels, expanded affordable Internet access without pre-conditions, involvement in solving local community problems, support of worker rights, and an end to passing along the cost of the franchise fee to customers.

The group has a petition on its website.

[flv]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/Comcast Tell Comcast to Pay Its Fair Share 5-2014.mp4[/flv]

CAP Comcast! produced this video introducing its campaign to prevent another 15 year franchise for Comcast in Philadelphia unless the company changes its ways. (2:51)

Central Oregon’s independent cable television and broadband company — BendBroadband — has been sold to Telephone and Data Systems (TDS), a Chicago-based telephone company in a deal worth $261 million.

TDS, which also owns southwestern U.S. Baja Broadband and 84 percent of US Cellular, promises nothing will change for the company’s 36,000 cable TV, 41,000 Internet, and 22,000 phone customers “for the foreseeable future.” The company also said it plans to keep BendBroadband’s name and 280 employees.

BendBroadband has provided cable television service in Bend, Redmond, Sunriver, Prineville, Madras, and Sisters as far back as 1955, when it imported long distance KOIN (the CBS affiliate out of Portland), KLOR (Portland’s ABC affiliate), and KVAL-TV (Eugene’s NBC affiliate) for the benefit of viewers that could not receive broadcast television station signals from western Oregon blocked by the Cascade Range — high mountains that separated cities like Portland from Bend.

“While BendBroadband has made many smart investments, it is clear that we will need to join forces with a like-minded company to gain the scale necessary to provide the cutting-edge technology and personalized customer experiences that consumers expect,” BendBroadband’s website says.

The company also felt the cable industry was entering a new era of consolidation, necessitating a sale to improve negotiating power with television networks over programming costs.

All Jim Frey wanted from Comcast was cable service for his new home in Joliet, Ill. Instead, the installer ruined his home’s air conditioning system and then passed the buck to Comcast, keeping Frey waiting more than a month for a resolution. Regular maintenance is essential to keep your home cool, so make sure to get the right hvac services. If you need air conditioning service or AC repair, then get in touch with Ambrose Air in Orlando. You may also want to consider specific regional needs like Indianapolis heating repair service for comprehensive home comfort solutions. It’s important that you know how to tell if furnace ignitor is bad so that you can contact an expert to fix it immediately.

Frey suspected there might be trouble as soon as the installer pulled out his oversized drill.

“He had a bit that was well over a foot long that he was using,” Frey said of the April 1 incident. “I don’t know why he would need a bit that long because the walls aren’t that thick.”

While installing a phone jack, the installer explained he thought he hit a stud inside the wall but instead of pausing to investigate, he just kept on drilling… right through Frey’s air conditioner, seriously damaging its expensive condensing unit.

“Time to install a phone jack.”

After apologizing, the technician took pictures of the damage and left Frey with the names and numbers of his two supervisors.

Frey told the Chicago Tribune’s Troubleshooter that Comcast initially seemed less than engaged in addressing the problem, telling Frey to find and call area repair shops and produce at least two estimates for the repairs. When Frey informed Comcast some of the repair companies charged an upfront fee of up to $90 to visit Frey’s home and offer a quote, the cable company balked at paying the bill and told Frey they would handle it themselves.

Only they didn’t.

Three weeks later, Frey learned from a repair company he consulted on his own that the repairs would cost $2,500, or he could buy a new air conditioner for $2,200-2,700. Comcast’s supervisors refused to commit to either option, leaving Frey to start over with Comcast’s customer service line, where he was given a ticket number and a brush-off.

“They keep telling me they are waiting on their contractor,” Frey said. “I don’t understand why it is taking so long to get someone to even estimate the damage and put together a plan. It won’t be long before hot weather is upon us and I am stuck. I just want some money for the repair and I will get it done if needed. I understand they want to save a little money, but all they want to do is put a Band-Aid on this thing and hope I’ll go away.”

Frey took his problem to the Chicago Tribune’s Problem Solver, who in turn contacted a Comcast spokesperson.

The following day, a technician, from a renowned AC installation company, arrived at Frey’s house with a new air conditioner, telling Frey it was a higher-efficiency unit than his damaged one.

Somebody also mentioned to Mr. Frey that whether it’s regular maintenance, tune-up, or replacement and repair services, he gets nothing but the best from these cooling service professionals here!

“We sincerely apologize to Mr. Frey for the damage to his air-conditioning unit and the delay in inspecting it,” added a Comcast spokesman.

MSNBC: The hoi polloi of DC and beyond mingle at the MSNBC after party at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C.
Comcast pays the bills.

After the inside-the-beltway media and a who’s who of D.C. political celebrities finished hobnobbing at this weekend’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Capitol Hill and White House staffers that usually spend their free time at Starbucks or the nearest watering hole were treated to something special this year, courtesy of everybody’s favorite cable company.

Comcast, using the MSNBC brand to keep things from being too obvious, splurged on an after-party-to-remember at the National Building Museum. Only a select crowd got invitations to the bash, featuring hand-rolled cigars and the best cigar cutters, Bravo’s Top Chef contestants preparing their signature dishes, an open bar, and plush couches to enjoy a set played by Jimmy Eat World.

“We see a lot of money thrown around D.C., but not money like this. They pulled out all the stops,” an insider who works closely with NBC told New York magazine. “I go to 200 events a year. And this is like, whoa.”

In addition to MSNBC’s on-air talent, the invitation list focused on Congress and White House staffers, a group normally left off the guest list of corporate-sponsored receptions and dinners.

It is no coincidence the bash was being paid for by Comcast, which is currently currying favor for its $45 billion deal to acquire Time Warner Cable.

“These are all staffers that go out for five-dollar happy hours; they don’t get invited to stuff like this,” the insider said.

“The committee staffers, they advise their bosses, the harried senators and congressmen who don’t have enough time to do their own research on whether or not the merger makes sense,” the insider added. They are going to come in here and they are going to drink and eat, they’re going to bring their girlfriend and they’re going to get laid, and then they’ll go, ‘Wow, this Comcast-Time Warner thing is not such a bad thing.'”

Viacom has blocked website content for Cable ONE customers in an escalating dispute with the cable company over the cost of the programmer’s cable networks.

Cable ONE dropped 15 Viacom channels from its cable systems nationwide April 1 claiming Viacom’s contract renewal price was unreasonable. Subscribers found a way around the dispute by accessing Viacom streamed content online. This week, Viacom closed that loophole and blocked access to all streaming content for Cable ONE subscribers.

“Cable One has chosen to no longer carry Viacom programming and, as a result, it is no longer available to Cable One customers in any form,” Viacom said in a terse statement.

All 730,000 Cable ONE customers in 19 states found the Viacom networks replaced on the cable lineup with alternative programming from BBC America, Sprout, The Blaze, Hallmark Channel, National Geographic, Investigation Discovery, TV One and SundanceTV.

Cable ONE is used to playing hardball with programmers and dropped Time Warner-owned Turner Network programming from its systems for three weeks last fall over a similar dispute, now resolved.

There is no word about the current status of negotiations between Viacom and Cable ONE.