Time Warner Cable customers looking for Al Jazeera America in New York are forgiven if they can’t find it. Time Warner Cable initially exiled the network to Channel Siberia — Channel 181 — between Univision Deportes and Shop Zeal, a shopping network that couldn’t draw flies.

But starting this week Time Warner has agreed to move the news network to Channel 57, evicting a Manhattan public access channel relocated elsewhere. Al Jazeera America’s new neighbor is HLN – home of Nancy Grace and a more irreverent light news lineup.

The contrast between HLN and Al Jazeera America could not be more clear. While HLN and other news channels spent hours covering last week’s arrest of pop star Justin Bieber, Al Jazeera America mentioned the arrest only in passing, noting the network is dedicated to hard news, increasingly hard to find on other cable news channels.

Al Jazeera America’s ratings are still a fraction of other news outlets on the cable dial, but the network is planning a promotional blitz to introduce itself and explain the difference in coverage.

Time Warner Cable currently carries the news channel on its cable lineup only in New York and Los Angeles, but subscribers nationwide can watch the channel on TWC’s TV Everywhere app – TWC TV, available for home computers, Android, iOS, Kindle Fire, Roku, XBox 360 and Samsung Smart-TVs.

Bright House Networks is dropping analog service in April in favor of an all-digital lineup that will require customers in Central Florida to have set-top boxes or similar equipment to continue watching.

“Digital is here to stay,” said Bright House spokesman Don Forbes. “Analog is going the way of the dodo bird.”

In a letter being mailed to all affected customers, Bright House notes customers will need a cable box, digital adapter or CableCARD for every television connected to cable.

Bright House will supply each customer with two digital adapters and remote controls at no charge through 2014. But the cable company will bill customers for those devices starting next January.

Sets equipped with QAM tuners alone will not suffice for receiving the entire cable lineup.

Customers are urged to begin requesting any required equipment starting today — either at a Bright House retail store or call toll-free: 1-855-589-8582.

British supermarket giant Tesco is reportedly preparing to offer budget-priced fiber broadband service to shoppers, according to ISPreview, which discovered the offer on a hidden web page.

Customers will be offered unlimited use 38Mbps entry-level service for around $12.50 a month for the first six months, and $25 a month thereafter. A one time charge of $83 applies unless customers enroll in an 18-month contract. A fiber activation fee of $75 also applies. A wireless router is provided for free after a $8.25 shipping and handling fee.

Tesco frequent shopper Clubcard members will also earn points good for shopping discounts when subscribed to Tesco’s broadband service, which effectively further reduces its monthly cost.

Unfortunately, existing Tesco broadband and home phone customers will not be eligible for the fiber promotion.

“If you currently have both a broadband and a home phone service with us, unfortunately we currently cannot upgrade you to fiber. We’re working on this and plan to roll it out Spring/Summer 2014,” read a statement on its help and support website.

In contrast, Americans pay an average of $63 a month for 25/5Mbps usage-capped cable broadband, including equipment rentals and surcharges, where applicable.

Comcast is likely getting into the electricity business in Pennsylvania, offering customers a “quad play” bundle of Internet, telephone, television, and electricity service with discounts for one or more services.

Robert Powelson, chairman of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission broke the news with an announcement that Comcast had teamed up with a retail electric supplier in the state with plans to roll out service as soon as late this year. NRG Energy spokesman Dave Knox acknowledged his company was “working with Comcast on a new initiative.” In order to expand their business, such a business may have employed services like those new and improved Business Cards.

The service will be offered as part of Pennsylvania’s competitive energy market, which allows residents to choose their electricity supplier. Under the plan, Comcast will effectively be a reseller — it won’t enter the power generation business directly. NRG Energy will handle the electricity supply, pick up Comcast as a super-sized bulk buyer, and extend the company volume discounts that would appeal to customers.

NRG owns Energy Plus, a retail supplier in Philadelphia that already specializes in bundling electrical supply with affinity programs that reward customers with cash and airline miles.

Nearly 40 percent of Pennsylvania residents have switched utility companies similar to ones featured on Smarterbusiness.co.uk, often for discounts, sign-up bonuses, or for renewable energy.

Many states offer residents and businesses a choice for their energy supplier.

The state of Texas is the largest deregulated power market in the country, where hundreds of suppliers compete in the retail energy market. Pennsylvania wants to attract suppliers that currently sell power in other states by shaking up the state’s electricity market. A state bill before the legislature would end “default service,” which automatically enrolls new customers with the incumbent provider. Pennsylvania Senate Bill 1121 would require residents to select a power company and give them $50 to complete enrollment. Customers who don’t make a choice will be put up for auction, with suppliers bidding for their business. The winning bidder gets the customer unless or until they choose a supplier themselves.

SB1121 could be a consumer’s nightmare, however, because non-consenting customers — many elderly — could wind up with a high-bidder that can immediately charge whatever it wants for service in the deregulated marketplace. The bill is opposed by the AARP, the Pennsylvania Office of the Consumer Advocate, the Pennsylvania Utility Law Project and many other consumer advocacy organizations that consider the measure unnecessary. In a recent AARP survey, almost 70% of 50+ residents — the ones most likely to be confused by changes in the electric marketplace — supported continuing with default electric plans.

There is growing interest in the power sector among technology companies, as evidenced by Google’s recent $3.2 billion acquisition of Nest, which produces intelligent home thermostats.

(Image Courtesy: Mizwhiz)

Sharing your Netflix or HBOGO account with those outside of your immediate family is a no-no, but password sharing with friends, co-workers or extended family members is a reality acknowledged by two of the largest video streamers in the business.

HBO’s Richard Plepler is well aware of the password sharing phenomena, but he doesn’t consider it a material issue. In fact, he admitted HBO is in the video addiction business and believes if non-paying viewers get a taste of HBOGO and get hooked on its lineup, they are more likely to become paying subscribers themselves.

While some on Wall Street may consider that lost revenue left on the table, BTIG Research Analyst Rich Greenfield agrees with Plepler.

“Leaving comedy aside, we suspect password sharing is a very real issue for Netflix as an online-only subscription service and is becoming a growing problem for HBO/HBOGO, as personal entertainment devices proliferate and bandwidth improves,” Greenfield writes. “We believe Plepler’s answer from his Buzzfeed Brews interview that the key is to build ‘video addicts’ that love the HBO brand is the right answer and we believe Netflix management shares that view.  Ultimately, we believe easy access across all devices with great content will drive people to pay for your service.”

Neither video service is open to a sharing free-for-all, however. Both Netflix and HBOGO limit customers to two concurrent video streams at a time. Try for a third and an error message appears. Netflix seems willing to monetize this hidden audience and is now testing subscription rates that vary depending on the number of simultaneous streams a customer wants. The tested plans:

• $6.99 a month for one stream (SD only);
• $7.99 a month for two streams in SD or HD (the current plan);
• $9.99 a month for three streams in SD or HD;
• $11.99 a month for four streams in SD or HD.

For Netflix, the increased revenue that can be earned by charging different rates for concurrent streams might prove a win-win proposition because many lurkers may be unwilling to buy their own account.

Cable operators have had less success being nonchalant about password sharing and have limited most streaming of cable channels to within a customer’s home because of restrictive programming contracts. Many cable networks fear password sharing could lead to non-paying customers getting access to their programming for free.

[flv]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/Buzzfeed Password Sharing 1-2014.flv[/flv]

HBO’s Richard Plepler explains why password sharing is a non-issue for HBOGO. (Video courtesy: Richard Greenfield, BTIG Research) (1:32)