The Oscars viewing party in Shreveport nearly never happened late last month when Comcast dropped the ball and left a “Technical Difficulties” message on subscribers’ screens for several hours. An enterprising technician at a local TV station saved the day when he found old-fashioned rabbit ears and a digital tuner in the back of his truck and was able to get the local ABC affiliate’s over-the-air signal on the big screens at the Robinson Film Center.

The technical foul-up was just the latest embarrassment for Comcast, not only because the outage impacted subscribers across a 75-mile radius, but also because Shreveport has a thriving partnership with the film industry. It also may be the breaking point for city officials tired of hearing complaints Comcast refuses to fix themselves.

Comcast blamed the latest widespread outage on a power problem.

“Comcast experienced a commercial power outage Sunday night,” said Frances Smith, a representative from Comcast’s government and regulatory affairs. “We are investigating and indications are that a resulting power surge damaged the switch that transfers the headend operation to a generator. We restored the majority of service within two hours and deeply regret the inconvenience to our customers.”

No refunds or service credits for customers are planned, unless those affected specifically ask for them within 30 days of the outage.

Comcast’s 15-year franchise with the city of Shreveport expired at the end of 2012 and the company is not making any friends on the Shreveport City Council as renewal discussions plod on while complaints from subscribers continue to pour in.

Most of the problems with Comcast service in Louisiana’s third largest city relate to the length of service outages, unresponsive customer service, and the quality of cable TV reception.

Webb

Comcast officials promised upgrades six years ago to address reliability issues, but city councilman Ron Webb says he hasn’t seen them and Comcast never delivered.

“We’re not trying to run them out of town,” Webb told KTRE-TV. “I want them to provide a good service. I have everything that I own bundled with them, and I’m paying dearly for it. But I’m happy to have the service. But I just want to see those improvements. I have the same problems.”

City officials are expecting Comcast officials to appear before the city council this evening to explain themselves and report on what plans they have to fix ongoing service complaints.

As it stands, Comcast continues to operate in Shreveport on a month-to-month basis until either a new franchise agreement is signed or another cable company responds to the city’s invitations to apply for a franchise. To date, no cable company has been willing to challenge Comcast’s presence in the city. In fact, Dale Sibley, the city’s chief administrative officer told the Shreveport Times no company even responded to their requests.

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Comcast’s problems have been ongoing in Shreveport for years. Last September, KTBS hinted that the city was considering replacing Comcast with a different cable operator. But as other cities have already learned, no major cable operator is willing to challenge another. (Sept. 19, 2012) (3 minutes)

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The night of the Academy Awards was a low-key affair in Shreveport after Comcast went out of service across the city for at least two hours, leading to questions from city officials. KTBS in Shreveport rescued at least some viewers attending a downtown reception when a station technician hooked up an antenna and picked up the station’s broadcast signal. (3 minutes)

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At least 24 hours after Comcast’s February outage, some subscribers were still without cable service, despite claims from the cable company the outage only lasted two hours. KMSS in Shreveport reports.  (1 minute)

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KSLA in Shreveport says Comcast’s ongoing service problems are being heard by members of the city council. Now some say the company never followed through on service improvements promised six years earlier.  (2 minutes)

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The Shreveport Times talks about tonight’s city council meeting which is scheduled to discuss Comcast’s service problems, the company’s franchise renewal, and obstacles that prevent another provider from taking over and delivering better service.  (3 minutes)

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Bob Mudge, president of consumer mass business markets at Verizon Communications, Inc., has reaffirmed Verizon FiOS has no plans to implement usage caps or consumption billing on its fiber to the home broadband customers. Mudge also told Bloomberg News that broadband speed really does matter. Nearly 50 percent of FiOS customers have chosen to upgrade to at least 50Mbps service, which is priced just $10 higher than its entry-level 15Mbps plan. Mudge also talked about changes Verizon is making for FiOS installations in New York City. Twenty-five so-called “Magic” buses will replace 250 single technician trucks, transporting teams of technicians to small businesses and homes in and around the Big Apple.  (6 minutes)

Windstream Communications is under investigation by the Governor’s Office of Consumer Protection because of allegations the company is advertising broadband speeds and performance the company simply cannot deliver its customers in Georgia.

A Windstream employee in a company retail office in Dawsonville told an undercover CBS Atlanta photographer that the company can offer Internet speeds up to 24Mbps. He guaranteed service no slower than 6 to 12Mbps. But Mark Creekmore, who lives in Dawsonville, reports his speeds sometimes barely reach 1Mbps during the afternoons.

Duane Hartness, a Windstream customer, says Windstream has oversubscribed their service by continuing to sell broadband on a network that is overcrowded as-is, which slows speeds for every customer.

“Every customer they add to their oversubscribed DSLAM increases their revenue while further degrading your bandwidth,” Hartness said. “Lacking competition, they can ignore any and all complaints.”

Creekmore wants every Windstream customer in Georgia that is dissatisfied with their broadband service to file complaints with the state agency.

“The more complaints, the more likely the Office of Consumer Protection is to take action,” Creekmore said. “Please make sure to include that you are not getting what you are paying for and any other personal detail that would help them understand what you have gone through. If you have had multiple communications with Windstream, please include those details as well. In short, the more detail the better.”

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WGCL — CBS Atlanta reports there are new developments in Georgia regarding Windstream: It is under investigation by the governor’s office for misleading subscribers with broadband speeds the company cannot actually deliver.  (3 minutes)

The FCC finds Windstream is the worst of the worst among DSL providers, only giving customers advertised speeds 81 percent of the time. AT&T, Georgia’s largest phone company, doesn’t do much better.

Windstream is the worst-performing DSL provider in the country according to the Federal Communications Commission, with just 81 percent of customers getting the broadband speeds marketed.

After complaints about the company helped derail H.B. 282 — a bill Windstream heavily lobbied for that would have eliminated possible competition from community-owned providers — Windstream representatives quickly began promising upgrades.

“We’re asking our customers to be patient with us because we’re on it. We understand that they have issues and we’re working to upgrade their network,” Bettye Willis, a regional vice president at Windstream, told the CBS station in Atlanta.

Willis added Windstream was committed to solving its Internet speed problems, but not for everyone.

The company released this map showing planned service upgrades for “two-thirds of the communities it serves” in Georgia. But the company warned not everyone would receive improved service. For the remaining one-third, “take it or leave it” broadband service will continue.

Powell

Georgia’s House of Representatives on Thursday killed a bill that would have made community-owned broadband networks difficult to build and impossible to expand.

House Bill 282 failed with a bipartisan vote — 94 against and 70 for, with the help of Democrats and rural Republicans who represent poorly wired districts.

The measure would have made Georgia the 20th state to place impediments on public broadband networks, usually built in areas where incumbent providers have failed to offer good service.

Rep. Jay Powell (R-Camilla) told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution he voted against the measure because the lack of broadband has already cost his community economic development opportunities.

“You cannot get it, you cannot keep it without high speed fiber,” Powell said. The provider, he said, “ wouldn’t provide it because they knew they didn’t have to. They provided whatever crumbs from the table they wanted.”

The majority of those voting for the broadband ban were Republicans, but a curious block of mostly urban Democratic legislators also supported the bill.

Stop the Cap! encourages Georgia readers to reach out to these elected officials and let them know you are disappointed with the way they voted on this measure. It is more likely than not that another version of this bill will be introduced next year, making it critical that likely supporters of anti-broadband bills have an ample warning in advance you will be watching them:

1. Alex Atwood (R – Brunswick) District 179
2. Mandi L. Ballinger (R – Canton) District 23
3. Timothy Barr (R – Lawrenceville) District 103
4. Ellis Black (R – Valdosta) District 174
5. Buzz Brockway (R – Lawrenceville) District 102
6. Bob Bryant (D – Garden City) District 162
7. Jon G. Burns (R – Newington) District 159
8. John Carson (R – Marietta) District 46
9. David Casas (R – Lilburn) District 107
10. Joyce Chandler (R – Lawrenceville) District 105
11. Mickey Channell (R – Greensboro) District 120
12. Mike Cheokas (R – Americus) District 138
13. Christian Coomer (R – Cartersville) District 14
14. Sharon Cooper (R – Marietta) District 43
15. Robert Dickey (R – Musella) District 140
16. Matt Dollar (R – Marietta) District 45
17. Mike Dudgeon (R – Johns Creek) District 25
18. Geoff Duncan (R – Cumming) District 26
19. Earl Ehrhart (R – Powder Springs) District 36
20. 

    Virgil Fludd: Voted against community broadband.

    Virgil Fludd (D – Tyrone) District 64

21. Carol Fullerton (D – Albany) District 153
22. Mike Glanton (D – Jonesboro) District 75
23. Mark Hamilton (R – Cumming) District 24
24. Ben Harbin (R – Evans) District 122
25. Brett Harrell (R – Snellville) District 106
26. Calvin Hill (R – Canton) District 22
27. Bill Hitchens (R – Rincon) District 161
28. Penny Houston (R – Nashville) District 170
29. Mike Jacobs (R – Brookhaven) District 80
30. Rick Jasperse (R – Jasper) District 11
31. Jan Jones (R – Milton) District 47
32. Sheila Jones (D – Atlanta) District 53
33. Darryl Jordan (D – Riverdale) District 77
34. David Knight (R – Griffin) District 130
35. Edward Lindsey (R – Atlanta) District 54
36. Chuck Martin (R – Alpharetta) District 49
37. Howard Maxwell (R – Dallas) District 17
38. 

    O’Neal: Voted to protect incumbent providers.

    Rahn Mayo (D – Decatur) District 84

39. Billy Mitchell (D – Stone Mountain) District 88
40. Alisha Thomas Morgan (D – Austell) District 39
41. Greg Morris (R – Vidalia) District 156
42. Chad Nimmer (R – Blackshear) District 178
43. Larry O`Neal (R – Bonaire) District 146
44. Butch Parrish (R – Swainsboro) District 158
45. Don Parsons (R – Marietta) District 44
46. Allen Peake (R – Macon) District 141
47. Alan Powell (R – Hartwell) District 32
48. Jimmy Pruett (R – Eastman) District 149
49. Matt Ramsey (R – Peachtree City) District 72
50. Nikki T. Randall (D – Macon) District 142
51. Tom Rice (R – Norcross) District 95
52. Jay Roberts (R – Ocilla) District 155
53. Carl Rogers (R – Gainesville) District 29
54. 

    Smith: A business owner that doesn’t mind if rural Georgia is left behind.

    Ed Rynders (R – Albany) District 152

55. Jason Shaw (R – Lakeland) District 176
56. Donna Sheldon (R – Dacula) District 104
57. Barbara Sims (R – Augusta) District 123
58. Earnest Smith (D – Augusta) District 125
59. Lynn Smith (R – Newnan) District 70
60. Calvin Smyre (D – Columbus) District 135
61. Jason Spencer (R – Woodbine) District 180
62. Ron Stephens (R – Savannah) District 164
63. Valencia Stovall (D – Ellenwood) District 74
64. Willie Talton (R – Warner Robins) District 147
65. Jan Tankersley (R – Brooklet) District 160
66. Sam Teasley (R – Marietta) District 37
67. Ben Watson (R – Savannah) District 166
68. Al Williams (D – Midway) District 168
69. “Coach” Williams (D – Avondale Estates) District 87
70. John P Yates (R – Griffin) District 73

Cable, satellite, and telco-TV subscribers face paying an extra $12 a year for two new sports channels that are certain to be added to the lineup by this summer.

Rupert Murdoch’s dream is to launch a cable sports network that can successfully rival ESPN. That dream begins to come true in August when News Corporation launches FOX Sports 1, a makeover of the Speed Channel that will cost subscribers more. Soon after, the Fuel Channel will relaunch as FOX Sports 2, a companion network.

The networks will carry programming acquired from deals with a range of sports leagues. FOX Sports 1 will feature Major League Baseball games starting next year. For the late summer and early fall of this year, the new sports channels will be packed with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (and truck races), pro archery which implies that new bowstring, UFC matches, and a range of college football and basketball games.

While the initial price of the new sports networks is relatively cheap at $1 a month per subscriber, in contrast with ESPN’s $5.15 monthly asking price, Murdoch and other Fox executives hope to one day rival ESPN, which guarantees bidding wars for sports programming that will escalate cable programming costs and subscriber bills.

Chase Carey, president of Fox, acknowledged the cost to acquire rights for sports programming have increased, but he believes sports programming will continue to be a priority for subscribers willing to tolerate higher bills for premier sporting events that may be featured on platforms such as the WSM Casino.

“We think sports is a huge arena that has room in it to build a really attractive businesses,” Carey told analysts on an earnings call last month.

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Lee Berke, president of LHB Sports Entertainment Media, talks about News Corp.’s plan to start a national sports network to debut in August. Fox Sports 1 will be available to more than 90 million pay-TV homes, New York-based News Corp. said yesterday in a statement. He speaks with Betty Liu on Bloomberg Television’s “In the Loop.” (4 minutes)

FOX SPORTS 1 PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS

COLLEGE BASKETBALL – Dozens of exclusive prime time games on Monday and Thursday nights, plus Saturday and Sunday coverage of the Big 12, Pac-12 and Conference USA.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL – Led by Notre Dame at Stanford, the Big Ten Championship Game and Pac-12 Championship Game (2014) on FOX, dozens of exclusive, live games from the Pac-12, Big 12 and Conference USA on Thursday nights and Saturdays; triple- and quadruple-headers on Saturdays; Saturday pre- and postgame coverage.

MLB – Beginning in 2014, select League Championship Series and Division Series games; regular-season games over 26 Saturdays; live game-in-progress look-in show.

NASCAR – Select NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races as soon as 2015; NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races; NASCAR Sprint All-Star race; all SpeedWeeks events leading up to the Daytona 500 including: Daytona 500 Qualifying, Sprint Unlimited at Daytona (2014, 2017-22) and the Budweiser Duel, now in prime time; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NCWTS Practice and Qualifying sessions; NASCAR RaceDay, providing pre- and post-race coverage; NASCAR Victory Lane, a weekly wrap-up show; and Race Hub, a daily mid-day studio show with the latest from drivers, owners and garages.

SOCCER – Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday afternoon coverage of the world’s most prolific club soccer competitions, the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, and CONCACAF Champions League featuring many of the world’s greatest and most successful clubs; the world’s oldest soccer competition, the FA Cup; CONCACAF Gold Cup; CONCACAF Qualifiers, FIFA Women’s World Cup coverage in 2015 and 2019; FIFA Men’s World Cup coverage in 2018 and 2022; delayed matches in prime time; weekly magazine and highlights shows.

UFC – Featured on Wednesday nights; live FIGHT NIGHTS through 2014, the first is scheduled for launch night, Saturday, Aug. 17; FOX event preliminary cards; UFC Tonight, the weekly authority for UFC news and information; 14 Saturday pay-per-view preliminary cards; hundreds of hours of library programs and events.