Some odds and ends regarding Bright House Networks you may have missed over the past several weeks:

Hernando County, Florida Ticked Off About Bright House Rate Hikes

Hernando County commissioners were united in their opposition to a recent $3 rate increase from Bright House Networks that spiked bills for standard service to $55.49 a month.  They voted unanimously for a resolution condemning the rate increase, noting it comes as a result of insufficient cable competition.

The commissioners want local consumers to shop around for alternative providers, but outside of satellite, Bright House is the only cable television provider for local residents.  Despite tough economic times, the rate increases just keep on coming.

“This, for lack of better words, really frosts me,” County Commissioner Dave Russell told Hernando Today. “As a retailer and a business owner in Hernando County, we’ve done what we can to keep our prices down.”
Bright House, he said, should do the same and “suck it up just like the rest of us have,” he said.

Additional rate increases of $2 per month for HBO and $1 a month each for digital phone, voicemail, and DVR service are also now in effect.

Vandals cut fiber optics on Bright House Networks in Birmingham area

Vandalism can result in major service disruptions for cable customers, especially when a fiber optic link is cut.  The Birmingham, Alabama area suffered a major outage in late February when vandals sliced an important fiber link.  Service was knocked out on the west side of Birmingham, including Five Points West, Ensley, and part of Ross Bridge for almost a day.

Customers generally have to call and request service credit for outages — most cable companies don’t automatically credit accounts.

Make Room for More HD Channels

Bright House Networks has been aggressively adding new HD channels to its lineups across the country.  In central Indiana, Bright House customers can spend even more time channel surfing through these additions:

• BBC America HD – Channel 847 on December 14
• Fuse HD – Channel 840 on December 16
• G4 HD – Channel 810 on December 16
• HLN HD – Channel 726 on December 14
• IFC HD – Channel 794 on December 11
• Investigation Discovery HD – Channel 804 on December 18
• MAV TV HD – Channel 753 on December 18
• NBA TV HD – Channel 862 on December 18
• NHL Network HD – Channel 863 on December 11
• Outdoor Channel HD – Channel 865 on December 11
• Style HD – Channel 860 on December 14
• Tennis Channel HD – Channel 864 on December 11
• TV One HD – Channel 866 on December 16
• BET HD – Channel 736
• Cinemax HD – Ch. 228
• CMT HD – Ch. 743
• Comedy Central HD – Ch. 725
• Crime & Investigation Network HD – Ch. 852
• Game HD – Ch. 904
• Hallmark  Channel  HD – Ch. 757
• HD Pay Per View Events – Ch. 304
• History International HD – Ch. 817
• MTV HD – Ch. 775
• Nickelodeon HD – Ch. 744
• Spike TV HD – Ch. 724
• Team HD – Ch. 886
• The Movie Channel HD – Ch. 262
• VH1 HD – Ch. 741

Wayde Klein, vice president of marketing and customer operations for Bright House Networks Indiana, said “In October, we announced that Bright House Networks had a goal of offering more than 100 high-definition channels in early 2010. We started by launching 17 HD channels in 17 consecutive days in November and then launched 13 new HD channels in December. Our launch of 15 HD channels this week is one step closer to our goal.”

In Orlando, Bright House added these networks in March:

• Hallmark Channel HD at channel 1315
• Nickelodeon HD at channel 1333
• Comedy Central HD at channel 1366
• Spike HD at channel 1368
• BET HD at channel 1367
• CMT HD at channel 1371
• VH1 HD at channel 1372
• MTV HD at channel 1374

Questions Answered from Bright House Customers

The St. Petersburg Times tackled this one from a Bright House customer:

Why doesn’t Bright House tell their customers that they have to pay for faster connection?

-Stephen, St. Petersburg

Like Big Mama always said, “you can’t get something for nothing.”

Bright House says customers are informed that the faster connections cost more. The higher speed Internet connections are not automatically given to customers.

“You have to request it,” says Joe Durkin, a spokesman for Bright House Networks.

Standard roadrunner Internet service is about $48. Then you can get Roadrunner turbo for $15 more or the fastest, Roadrunner lightning, for $30 above the standard.

The additional charges are listed, even online.

Bright House serves a large part of central Florida.  Comcast Cable serves territories further south.

[flv width=”576″ height=”409″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/Bright House Ad Campaign Spring 2010.mp4[/flv]

Bright House launched a new ad campaign this spring emphasizing bright colors and product bundles.

Local media warns residents to look first before opening the door to potential trouble

As many as five men wearing Verizon jackets have been ringing doorbells in the Bradenton, Florida area seeking entry into residents’ homes claiming to be service or sales representatives.  Police are concerned an unsuspecting resident may admit the impostors unaware of their likely criminal intentions.  Bright House Networks, the area’s cable operator, has also faced phony representatives peddling its products.

With increased competition between phone companies and cable operators for your telecommunications business, many providers hire third party door-to-door sales personnel to promote services, especially when new service options become available.  Verizon uses 20/20 Companies, an Ft. Worth, Texas-based door to door marketing firm to sell its Verizon FiOS fiber to the home service.  20/20 Companies promises its clients “a thorough, national background check and a 10-panel drug screen” for all of its sales representatives to “protect the client, the brand, and, most importantly, the customer.”

Still, consumers may not be aware of what to consider before opening their doors to uninvited knocks.  It has happened to me when a fake Frontier Communications “representative” knocked on my door a few years ago with lots of personal questions but no answers:

1. Cable and telecommunications companies do not make unscheduled service calls.  If a representative claims they “detected a problem,” tell them you will call the company yourself to schedule an appointment.
2. If the doorbell rings and you weren’t expecting anyone, consider simply ignoring it.  At least verify to your satisfaction the identity of the visitor before opening the door or even interacting with him or her.
3. Sales representatives and other company personnel should have clear, unambiguous, professionally-produced identity badges.  A shirt sticker or generic jacket with a logo on it doesn’t come close.
4. Trust your instincts.  If something doesn’t seem right, it probably isn’t.  Don’t hesitate to contact police.  Many communities require all door to door sales personnel to have a peddler’s license on file with the local town or city government.  If they don’t, police can charge them.
5. Alert your neighbors.  You may have been aware enough to avoid a potential problem, but an overly trusting neighbor might not.  They’ll appreciate you looking out for them.

Consumers concerned about this type of door to door sales activity should contact service providers and tell them you don’t appreciate at-home intrusions and that you hope the company will modify its marketing practices to discontinue unscheduled marketing visits.  Instead, suggest they send sales teams only to homes that specifically request an in-person visit, with an appointment.

[flv width=”480″ height=”340″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WTSP Tampa Police warn of Verizon and Bright House service tech impostors 2-9-2010.flv[/flv]

WTSP-TV in Tampa warns southwestern Florida residents about fake employees trying to gain entry into local residents’ homes.  (3 minutes)

[flv width=”540″ height=”380″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WFLA Tampa Fake Verizon Employees 2-9-2010.flv[/flv]

WFLA-TV in Tampa tells viewers to ask for ID before opening a door to a telecommunications company employee.  (2 minutes)

Road Runner Turbo is getting a makeover in Indianapolis.  Faster speeds are forthcoming, but at a higher price.

Bright House Networks currently provides Road Runner Standard customers with 7Mbps/512kbps.  Getting better speed requires the purchase of Road Runner Turbo at a new price of $15 per month.  In return, Bright House is boosting Turbo speed customers to 20/2Mbps service, with PowerBoost temporarily accelerating downstream speeds up to 30Mbps.

In most markets, Road Runner Turbo is priced at $9.95 per month, but it’s five dollars more in Indianapolis.

Bright House headquarters in Indianapolis

Will the increased price for Turbo become a trend in return for faster speeds in other markets?

Ironically, the associated public relations campaign sells customers on signing up for Turbo to enjoy a better online video experience.

“Building the excitement toward the opening games of the Olympics, we’re able to add to the enjoyment of and access to entertainment and information with these exclusive new products and features,” said Wayde Klein, vice president of marketing and customer operations for Bright House Networks Indiana. “With our speed boost to Road Runner Turbo, customers will be able to take advantage of some of the highest Internet speeds available, making video viewing over the Internet an even better, real-time experience.”

The upgrade in broadband service is part of Bright House’s effort to improve service in central Indiana.  The cable operator is also adding several new high definition networks and introducing the “Start Over” feature allowing viewers to return to the start of a program in progress.

Bright House is licensed to provide Road Runner service, a brand more commonly associated with Time Warner Cable.

Liberally borrowing from ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and those home improvement shows on HGTV, Verizon has been producing their own “home technology makeovers” for infomercials airing in different Verizon service areas, designed to pitch their fiber to the home FiOS product line. It’s a non-threatening introduction for those not so technology-inclined, but love the premise of home makeovers.

The Reyes family of Clearwater, Florida is the latest to receive a Verizon-inspired makeover this March, which will air later as an infomercial in the Tampa Bay area.

The family was chosen from those who auditioned for the role during the past two months.

Verizon traditionally sets up each show by illustrating the challenges busy families face when trying to work with outdated electronics.  It’s also a great chance to bash the competition, suggesting their cable reception isn’t so great, their calls to 911 are broken up and unclear, and their Internet is slow and generally lousy.  At this point, Bright House Networks, Tampa’s predominate cable company, is supposed to be squirming, because you can bet these families aren’t complaining about Verizon phone service or Verizon DSL.

After the family leaves the home, a bandwagon of Verizon workers and self-described “Design,” “Tech,” and “FiOS”-Gurus show up and replace their obsolete equipment with Verizon’s family of products, ranging from FiOS for their television, phone, and broadband needs, and some extra goodies thrown in from Verizon Wireless for mobility.  Add some new electronics and some room makeovers and the job is complete.

When the family returns, they are suitably impressed with Verizon’s products (which they presumably obtain for free, at least for awhile), the company throws a block party for the entire neighborhood, and everyone goes away with a positive feeling about the company.

“I like the concept of the show, how one company can bring so much happiness to a family just by changing their home technology,” said Jessica Reyes. “It may seem simple to some people, but I know this will have a huge impact on our family.”

See?

Actually, it’s a brilliant execution of marketing to those who don’t suddenly start drooling at the mere mention of FiOS in their neighborhood.  For plenty of Americans, a decidedly non-technical demonstration of the technology products Verizon sells is a much better way to sell service to those who think fiber is a matter of diet, not home entertainment.

[flv width=”640″ height=”380″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/Verizon MyHome 2.0.mp4[/flv]

Verizon’s promotional reel for My Home 2.0 shows home technology makeovers, and can’t resist taking a few pokes at the competition’s service. (1 minute)

Americans can look forward to additional rate increases in their monthly cable bills on top of the usual annual rate increases already underway as broadcast stations demand, and get, cash in return for cable carriage.

Just a few days after Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks concluded their precedent-setting agreement in principle with News Corporation’s Fox network, other networks and television stations owners are lining up to get their piece of the action.

The cable operators’ agreement to pay an estimated 50-60 cents per month per subscriber for the right to put Fox-owned local broadcast stations on the cable dial will likely be used as the starting point for negotiations between other cable operators like Comcast, Cox, Cablevision, and Charter when their agreements with stations and broadcast networks come up for renewal.  If every major broadcast network and station owner gets the same 50-60 cents per month, or more, those costs will certainly be passed on to subscribers.  That’s just the beginning says David Joyce, media analyst for Miller Tabak , a Wall Street trading firm.  Joyce believes annual increases demanded by networks could easily be in the 7-8 percent range.  Bloomberg News predicts that could add up to more than $5 billion dollars a year.

[flv width=”640″ height=”500″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/Bloomberg Retransmission Consent Will Force Cable Bills Higher 1-4-10.flv[/flv]

Bloomberg News interviews David Joyce, a media analyst who predicts annual 7-8% increases for retransmission consent. (3 minutes)

Sinclair owns stations in these communities

There is nothing new about these kinds of disputes — just the sums involved.

Sinclair Broadcast Group owns television stations serving nearly 22% of the United States (mostly Fox affiliates), and has contentious negotiations for retransmission consent agreements with Mediacom, a cable operator serving mostly smaller cities in the midwest and south.

The two companies just agreed to an eight day extension of their negotiations over a new agreement to replace the one that expired December 31st.

“We just decided we wanted to avoid, with such important events coming up, the disruption that it would cause customers,” Sinclair General Counsel Barry Faber said. “I don’t expect there will be a further extension. We recognize we’re giving up, perhaps, a small amount of (negotiating) leverage, but we don’t think it’s very much. Our channels are worth so much more than we are asking for.”

Sinclair has been willing to force its stations off Mediacom cable systems in the past to prove its point.  But another experience with angry sports fans upset over the interruption of Fox programming was apparently sufficient to give negotiations another week.

[flv width=”640″ height=”500″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/Bloomberg Murdoch Bullies His Way to Agreement 1-4-10.flv[/flv]

Bloomberg News explains how Rupert Murdoch bullied his way into an agreement with Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks that could change the landscape of broadcast television forever.  (4 minutes)

[flv width=”640″ height=”500″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/Bloomberg Sports a Major Factor of Cable Dispute 1-4-10.flv[/flv]

The ‘Holy Grail’ of cable programming essentially boils down to silly ball games.  Sports programming is one of cable’s biggest expenses, yet few would dare to alienate sports fans, as this Bloomberg report explores.  (2 minutes)