Charter Communications, Inc. and Comcast Corporation today announced the name of the new cable company that will be spun off from Comcast upon completion of the Comcast – Time Warner Cable merger and the Comcast – Charter transactions.

The company now known as “SpinCo” or “Midwest Cable LLC” will be known as GreatLand Connections, Inc.

Although the name has been registered as a trademark, there is no known website or logo yet.

“We are pleased to publicly announce the name of this exciting new company we are building,” said Michael Willner, president and chief executive officer of GreatLand Connections. “The name GreatLand Connections pays homage to the rich history and striking geographies of the diverse communities in which the company will operate. It brings to mind our commitment to connecting people and businesses with terrific products and excellent service in the almost 1000 historic communities – large and small – across the 11 states we will serve.”

Former Insight Cable customers may recall Willner presided over that cable operator for years before it was acquired by Time Warner Cable.

GreatLand Connections will serve customers thrown out by Comcast and Time Warner Cable to keep their combined share of the cable television business under 30%. Most of the 2.5 million customers are in less desirable markets in the midwest and southeast.

It will likely launch as the country’s fifth largest cable operator, behind Charter Communications.

If you are a Time Warner Cable customer, one of four things will happen by this time next year:

1. You will still be a Time Warner Cable customer if regulators shoot down its merger with Comcast;
2. You will be a Comcast customer;
3. You will be a Charter Communications customer;
4. You will be served by a brand new cable company temporarily dubbed “SpinCo,” owned partly by Comcast but managed by Charter.

Comcast and Charter this week reached an agreement on how to handle the 3.9 million Time Warner Cable customers Comcast intends to spin-off to keep its total subscriber numbers at a level they believe will appease regulators. The transaction will affect Time Warner customers in the midwest the most, particularly former Insight Cable customers.

Charter Communications will say goodbye to customers in California, New England, northern Georgia, Texas, North Carolina, Oregon, Washington, Virginia and parts of Tennessee. Most of those customers will now be served by Comcast. Among the regions affected: New York, Boston, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Northern/Southern California, and Atlanta.

[flv]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WISN Milwaukee First Comcast Now Charter 4-28-14.flv[/flv]

WISN in Milwaukee reports Time Warner Cable customers there were just getting used to the idea of Comcast and they are not happy service will be provided by Charter Communications instead. (2:03)

Comcast and Time Warner Cable will in turn give up many of its cable systems in the midwest, either transferring them to Charter or the “SpinCo” venture managed by Charter.

Charter will take over directly in Ohio, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Indiana and Alabama.

If you are a Comcast or Time Warner Cable customer next to a current Charter service area in Michigan, Minnesota, Indiana, Alabama, Eastern Tennessee, Kentucky or Wisconsin, chances are you will end up a subscriber of the “SpinCo” venture. That will prove a distinction without much difference to customers, because Charter will manage the day-to-day operations of the new cable company and has the right to eventually acquire it outright.

With the exception of a small handful of systems in western sections of Pennsylvania, Virginia and North Carolina, all of New England, New York, and the mid-Atlantic region will be serviced by Comcast.

With the exception of Cablevision in eastern New York, Comcast will be the dominant cable provider across New York State from Manhattan to Buffalo.

The agreement also includes a commitment by Charter to drop its opposition to the Time Warner Cable/Comcast merger.

“Today’s announcement from Comcast would, in essence, lead to the creation of a three-company cable cartel. Masquerading as subscriber divestitures, the agreement with Charter brings together the three largest cable providers, who account for 38% of cable subscribers and 45% of Internet subscribers,” the Writers Guild of America West said in a statement. “The decision of these three powerful companies to divide markets and share ownership of subscribers through a new publicly traded corporation is unprecedented and adds to the mounting evidence against the Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger.”

The transaction is expected to be tax-free and will happen in three stages:

• Asset Sale: Charter acquires systems serving around 1.4 million former TWC customers for an estimated $7.3 billion in cash;
• Asset Transfer: Charter and Comcast transfer assets in a tax-free exchange involving around 1.6 million former TWC customers and about 1.6 million Charter customers;
• Asset Spin-off: Comcast will spin-off a new entity (“SpinCo”) composed of cable systems serving around 2.5 million Comcast customers to its shareholders, with Charter acquiring close to 33% of the equity of SpinCo in exchange for 13% of the equity of a new holding company of Charter.

Charter Communications would become the nation’s second largest cable operator if the deal is approved, owning outright systems with an estimated 5.7 million video customers and managing an extra 2.5 million SpinCo customers, together totaling more than 8.2 million video customers.

Comcast wanted the deal done quickly so it could begin lobbying Washington and other regulators with detailed divestiture plans to keep Comcast’s total subscribers to less than 30% of the national cable market.

Although Comcast will face tough competition in Time Warner Cable territories also served by Verizon FiOS, Charter and its managed SpinCo will compete primarily with AT&T U-verse. Just 1% of Charter’s territory is expected to see competition from Verizon’s fiber network.

[flv]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/Bloomberg Divesting Comcast Subs 4-28-14.flv[/flv]

Comcast agreed to divest 3.9 million customers to Charter Communications, potentially helping to ease the approval process for its merger with Time Warner Cable. Media Morph Chairman and Chief Strategist Shahid Khan and Bloomberg’s Paul Sweeney speaks on Bloomberg Television’s “In The Loop.” (6:23)

Former Insight Cable customers in Evansville, Ind. are fuming after the company’s new owner temporarily left them without phone or Internet service, with nobody available to explain why.

Time Warner Cable attempted to convert Insight customers to its own platform last week, interrupting service in the process. Affected customers quickly jammed customer service lines, leading some to visit local cable offices to straighten things out.

Time Warner Cable will convert former Insight customers in Kentucky and Ohio to its own platform starting in June.

“Right now, I have no Internet,” said Insight customer Claudia Congleton. “I tried to call them three or four times today. No one answers. You’re waiting for over 30 minutes and so that’s why I’m down here. I’m just going to come down here and talk to them about it.”

“It’s so frustrating,” Congleton told Tristate News.

Time Warner blamed the problems on “minor glitches” during the customer conversion process, which began in Evansville on April 29. A larger transition is planned in Kentucky in mid-June, with former Insight customers in Columbus, Ohio moved later that same month.

When Time Warner Cable launched the conversion in Indiana, broadband customers whose names ended in letters “A” through “K” were redirected to a web page that required them to re-register broadband service and select a new twc.com e-mail address to replace their existing Insight e-mail account. Customers who either failed to complete the registration process or who tried during peak usage times often found their Internet service interrupted. Similar problems occurred with phone customers.

Some customers were unhappy with the cable company’s optimistic predictions of a quick fix.

“They lied to me,” said Insight customer Mary Jackson.  “I am so upset because they lied to me.”

Jackson visited the Evansville cable office to report her phone and Internet service were out and the company promised a same-day fix. A day later it was still out.

[flv width=”480″ height=”380″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WTVW Evansville Time Warner Transition Step By Step 5-1-13.flv[/flv]

Here is how the transition was supposed to take place between Insight Cable and Time Warner. WTVW in Evansville walks customers through the conversion process.  (2 minutes)

 [flv width=”640″ height=”380″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WFIE Evansville Broadband Problems 5-1-13.mp4[/flv]

WFIE in Evansville reports how things actually went. Not so good, reported a number of customers.  (1 minute)

[flv width=”480″ height=”380″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WTVW Evansville Time Warner Cable Customers Look For Answers 5-1-13.flv[/flv]

The next day, Time Warner Cable customers who could not get through to the company by phone were down at this Time Warner Cable office in Evansville looking for answers, as WTVW reports.  (2 minutes)

[flv width=”640″ height=”380″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WFIE Evansville Insight Switch 5-3-13.mp4[/flv]

The following day, some customers were still without service. WFIE talks to one Time Warner Cable customer upset she still did not have phone service.  (1 minute)

Over the next three months, customers of Insight Cable will notice some major changes from their cable operator.

New owner Time Warner Cable is retiring the Insight name for good and replacing it with their own.

Customers will gradually see Time Warner Cable’s logo introduced on company trucks, billing statements, channel guides, and all correspondence.

The company promises one thing is not changing for now: your rates. But that promise won’t last long. Time Warner adjusts rates annually.

Time Warner Cable will also leave current channel lineups in place, but expect to see technology upgrades that will deliver services like online video and faster broadband speeds that may not yet be available in all Insight Cable areas.

[flv width=”640″ height=”380″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WCPO Cincinnati Say goodbye to Insight Cable in Ky 3-19-13.mp4[/flv]

WCPO’s consumer reporter lets northern Kentucky subscribers know ‘Insight Cable’ is a name headed for the history books.  (1 minute)

[flv width=”480″ height=”290″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WSYR Syracuse Time Warner Cable to charge monthly Internet modem fee 10-2-12.mp4[/flv]

WSYR in Syracuse and WCPO in Cincinnati report Time Warner Cable and former Insight Cable customers are upset the cable company is introducing new modem rental charges on Nov. 1 in both areas, but the company has yet to directly notify customers the new fees are coming. WSYR covers the concerns of customers in central New York. (1 minute)