Time Warner Cable’s decision to spend $11 billion to broadcast Los Angeles Lakers and Dodgers games at an estimated cost of $50-60 a year per subscriber is the subject of a class action lawsuit from fed up customers.

The plaintiffs are upset cable subscribers across Southern California will have to cover the cost of the 20-year deal with no option to opt-out of the sports channels because they are bundled into the most popular cable package.

The suit, filed this week in Superior Court alleges at least 60 percent of subscribers have no interest in the sports programming, but will collectively cover $6.6 billion of the deal and never watch a single game.

Time Warner Cable is also accused of forcing AT&T U-verse, Charter Cable, Cox Cable, DirecTV and Verizon FiOS to sign restrictive contracts that compel the companies to include the sports channels on the basic lineup.

Ironically, Time Warner Cable itself regularly complains about the increasing cost of programming and contract terms that force it to bundle expensive sports channels inside the basic tier instead of offering customers optional, added-cost sports programming packages.

Both sports teams are also named as defendants in the suit because they were aware that all subscribers would face rate increases as a result of the deal.

“TWC’s bundling results in Defendants making huge profits, much of which is extracted from unwilling consumers who have no opportunity to delete unwanted telecasts,” the complaint states.

The suit claims there is no legitimate reason Time Warner Cable and the sports teams could not have offered the new networks only to customers that wished to pay for them. The suit wants the bundling of the sports networks stopped and customers given refunds for the higher television bills that resulted.

A handful of broadcasters in California, Michigan, Montana and New Mexico interrupted their regularly scheduled programs earlier this week to warn audiences that zombie attacks were underway and residents should avoid the undead at all costs.

This ‘War of the Worlds‘ scenario did not frighten radio and television audiences, but caught stations off-guard, because the Emergency Alert System messages received over the Internet were programmed to broadcast live over the air with no intervention on the part of the living.

“Local authorities in your area have reported the bodies of the dead are rising from their graves and attacking the living,” said one message, which went out as both a scrolling text message and a voice alert. “Do not attempt to approach or apprehend these bodies as they are considered extremely dangerous.”

The Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday warned the nation’s broadcasters to lock down the equipment that monitors for EAS warnings and rebroadcasts them to the public.

The zombie reports managed to find their way to the airwaves in Los Angeles and Michigan Monday. On Tuesday, the messages were delivered across New Mexico on several of the state’s PBS stations.

How are the hackers getting in?

“Before a year or two ago, the EAS systems were hooked up through phone lines, now they’re hooked up to the Internet,” said Karole White, president-CEO of the Michigan Broadcaster’s Association. “We feel fortunate they were not able to get into the entire Emergency Alert System – that’s the good news. The bad news is they got in at all.”

An equipment vendor suspects affected stations never changed the default password supplied with the equipment that inserts warning messages into broadcasts. The FCC agreed, warning broadcasters:

EAS Participants must change all passwords on their CAP EAS equipment from default factory settings, including administrator and user accounts.
EAS Participants are also urged to ensure that their firewalls and other solutions are properly configured and up-to-date.

The hacker or hackers have not yet been found by federal authorities. If convicted, the person(s) responsible face hefty federal fines.

[flv width=”640″ height=”380″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/KRQE Albuquerque Zombie attack announced on local TV 2-13-13.mp4[/flv]

KRQE in Albuquerque reports a hacker attack on the state’s largest public broadcaster delivered fake zombie warnings over the Emergency Alert System earlier this week. (3 minutes)

Time Warner Cable customers in southern California are bracing themselves for a rate increase that will raise prices by 8.2 percent — almost four times the rate of inflation.

The price for digital basic cable, the most popular cable television package, will rise from $67 to $72.50 per month. The price charged to record shows from that package is also going up. “DVR service,” which does not include the DVR equipment itself, is rising 18.6% — from $10.95 to $12.99 a month.

Stop the Cap! reader Steve in Carlsbad adds his rate increase notification also mentions price increases for bundled packages:

All Standard and Basic packages and bundles will increase by $5.00 and all digital video packages and bundles will increase by $3.00.

The rate increases are by no means over. As Time Warner mails its price change notifications for 2013 to customers, it also signed a 25-year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers for yet another regional sports channel showcasing the baseball team. Industry insiders estimate the deal is worth between $7-8 billion and could eventually cost cable subscribers an additional $5 a month, whether they watch the channel or not.

It is likely the latest rate increase does include the cost of the 2012 launch of Time Warner Cable SportsNet, which features the Los Angeles Lakers. Time Warner asks competing satellite and telephone company video services to pay between $4-5 a month to provide SportsNet to their customers.

The rate increases will not affect customers on retention or promotional packages until they expire. As usual, Time Warner blamed the rate hike on increasing programming costs, notably for sports and broadcast television stations.

Although many Californians have alternatives, ranging from AT&T U-verse to two satellite television providers, those companies are raising prices as well:

• Comcast (San Francisco Bay area) rates went up 4.3% last year and will increase again this summer;
• DirecTV rates will increase Feb. 7 by about 4.5 percent;
• Dish Networks’ most popular packages rose $5 a month on Jan. 17;
• AT&T U-verse will boost prices on components of its service by around $2 a month each on Jan. 27.

Customers facing price increases can use the rate increase notification as the trigger to threaten to cancel service to win a lower price with a customer retention offer. Stop the Cap! published a comprehensive guide on how to win a lower rate from Time Warner in 2012 and those tips are still working for our readers today.

If Time Warner seems unwilling to bargain, customers can also consider taking their business elsewhere by signing up for a promotional introductory offer with a competitor. When that offer expires, Time Warner will take you back with a new customer promotion as well.

In general, bundling all of your services with one provider will save the most money. Triple play packages consisting of television, broadband, and phone service are the most economical when considering the cost of each service. But it is also a good idea to consider whether you need all three services.

The weakest link of the triple play package is the landline. If you subscribe to broadband and cable service, consider switching to a broadband-based phone company like Ooma, which received a high rating from Consumer Reports. After an initial investment of around $150 for the equipment, the price of the phone service itself is next to nothing and includes nationwide unlimited calling. Ooma basic customers only pay for FCC-mandated fees and local taxes and surcharges. Combined these are usually well under $7 a month. Ooma Premier customers pay $119.99 a year and get a free number transfer, free calling to Canada, the choice of a Bluetooth Adapter, Wireless Adapter or Extended Warranty, a large list of calling features, a second line, voicemail, and free mobile calling minutes.

This digital adapter cable box is free through 2015. A traditional set top box from Time Warner costs $8.49/mo.

Next consider your current cable television package. Scrutinize your bill for add-on fees, especially for digital/HD add-on packages for channels you may never watch. Do you still need to pay for HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, and Starz? Consider Netflix, Redbox, and Amazon video — among others — to satisfy your movie needs without paying more than $15 a month for HBO alone.

Equipment fees may also make up a substantial portion of your bill. If you pay separately for DVR equipment and service, you are probably paying Time Warner’s regular customer rates. Seize the opportunity to demand a better deal. Customers with multiple set top boxes may want to consider ditching them on secondary sets, especially if they don’t need an on-screen program guide or access to on-demand programming.

Time Warner is offering customers “digital transport adapters” (DTAs) at no cost through 2015. These boxes, a fraction of the size of a traditional set top box, will allow older sets to access most digital channels that are included in your cable television package. But a DTA won’t work with on-demand programming or premium channels, at least for now. The devices also do not support a handful of digital channels that Time Warner provides under a bandwidth-saving scheme that only delivers a network if a customer with a traditional set top box actually starts to watch. In western New York, we found about 10 unavailable channels, virtually all very minor networks that won’t prove much of an inconvenience. Using a DTA instead of a set top box can save up to $8.50 a month for each cable box it replaces.

If you subscribe to Time Warner Cable broadband and are paying the company’s $3.95 a month modem rental fee, you are throwing your money away. Invest in purchasing your own cable modem. They are simple to install and are reliable. You’ll earn back the purchase price in as little as a year. Now may also be a good time to review your speed needs. Time Warner recently boosted its standard broadband speed to 15/1Mbps. If you pay extra for Turbo, this might be a good time to consider dropping it if you don’t need the incrementally faster 20Mbps download speed Turbo offers.

Despite perennial protests from pay television providers that programming costs are getting out of hand, this fall viewers will find an even greater number of costly sports channels that will fuel rate increases in 2013.

The biggest boost in sports programming comes from Time Warner Cable, which has finally signed a deal with the National Football League and will also launch a series of regional and sports specialty channels for subscribers already able to watch more than a dozen sports-related networks. When it comes to betting on televised sports, a site like 4D Result 8 can definitely be trusted. The deal also affects Bright House Networks subscribers. Time Warner Cable handles programming negotiations for Bright House.

This past weekend’s addition of the NFL Network to the company’s digital standard service lineup and the niche NFL RedZone channel, which is part of the company’s $5.95 Sports Pass specialty tier comes nine years after the NFL Network launched. Time Warner Cable was the last major holdout that refused to carry the network, which costs an estimated $0.95 per cable subscriber, per month. But as League officials began gradually increasing the number of season games on the network, enraged sports fans feeling left out increasingly pelted the cable operator with complaints.

The NFL has also consistently refused to allow its primary NFL Network to appear on a mini-pay tier, available only to those willing to pay extra, instead demanding it be a part of standard service.

Another holdout, Cablevision, relented and agreed to carry the two NFL networks in August, leading to speculation the cable operator will break its promise not to increase rates in 2012 and will raise prices while blaming the addition of the costly sports networks.

At nearly a dollar per month per customer, it is a virtual certainty much, if not all, of that cost will also be passed on to Time Warner Cable customers during the next round of rate increases.

But that is just the beginning, especially if you are a Time Warner Cable customer in southern California.

In mid-August, most Time Warner customers began receiving at least one Pac-12 network on the company’s Sports Pass tier. But in Los Angeles, customers are getting two channels, one devoted to the entire conference and an extra channel dedicated to USC and UCLA coverage that every local subscriber will receive.

Your cable bill is going up again.

Both channels do not come cheap. Sports Business Journal has reported that the Pac-12 is seeking more than 80 cents per subscriber to carry its channels, about the same price charged by the Disney Channel.

Cox, Comcast, and Bright House Networks subscribers don’t get a free pass either. They will also find Pac-12 Networks on their local lineups (and bills) soon enough.

Also for southern California, Time Warner Cable is creating two new sports channels, SportsNet and Deportes (Spanish), that will exclusively carry games featuring the Los Angeles Lakers, Galaxy, Sparks, and perhaps one day the Dodgers.

The networks’ broadcast territory includes all regions that previously broadcast Lakers, Galaxy and Sparks games. That area stretches from Fresno County to the north to San Diego and Imperial County to the south. It also includes Hawaii (Time Warner Cable Deportes not available in Hawaii) and Clark County, Nev. A full list of California counties that can receive the networks: Fresno, Imperial, Kern, Kings, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Tulare and Ventura.

The Lakers signed a $4 billion, 20-year deal with Time Warner Cable for broadcast rights, taking them away from KCAL-TV, a free over-the-air station. Time Warner will want their money back, so they will get it from you, the subscriber. Ironically, while Time Warner complains about other sports programmers insisting their networks be carried on the standard service tier, it has no problem wanting the same for its own sports channels. Subscribers throughout the region may end up covering the nearly $4 monthly cost per subscriber for the two regional sports channels, whether they want them or not.

A California woman is suing Verizon Communications for selling her faster Internet service, at a higher price, the company cannot actually deliver.

Patricia Allen of Santa Monica filed suit in Los Angeles after Verizon sold her an upgrade to her current DSL plan that turned out to be anything but.  Allen was paying $23.99 a month for 768kbps service, but in March, 2011 Verizon promised they could give her a speed upgrade to 1.5Mbps for $11 more per month.

Exactly one year later, Allen learned her “upgraded service” performed no better than her original Internet plan, which itself only managed around 500kbps, and called Verizon to complain.

Verizon technicians quickly responded Allen could never get the benefits of a faster speed plan because she lived at least two miles from her local Verizon central office.  DSL speeds degrade with distance and can also be impacted by the quality of the landline network Verizon maintains in southern California.  Because Allen lives too far away to receive anything better than 700kbps service, she was advised to downgrade her $34.99 DSL plan back to the one she started with.

Allen requested a refund for the extra $11 a month she was paying for the last year for promised speed improvements Verizon never delivered, but the company flatly refused her request.  Allen is now taking her case to the California courts, and her legal representatives are seeking to have the case designated a class action covering all Verizon landline customers in California who, like Allen, are paying for Verizon-marketed speed upgrades they actually cannot receive.

The suit claims Verizon is well aware it is selling speed upgrades to customers who live too far away from the company’s facilities to actually benefit from the enhanced service, and pockets the proceeds without delivering improved service.  The suit alleges Verizon is engaged in unethical, unscrupulous, immoral, and oppressive business conduct in violation of California state law.

Verizon’s spokesman Rich Young called the lawsuit “baseless and without merit.”

Verizon Class Action Copy