MYOB

Asking about the cost of DirecTV could turn out more expensive than you think.

The Los Angeles Times found DirecTV a little more nosy than it should be, opening the door to identity theft and some minor credit damage from unwanted credit inquiries from the satellite provider.

As customers in southern California grow weary over Time Warner Cable’s dispute with CBS, some are shopping around for a better deal with another provider.

57-year old Los Angeles resident Michael Bell got more than he bargained for when he called DirecTV looking for some price quotes. Before the representative would answer, Bell found himself grilled for a lot of personal details that seemed irrelevant in response to a question about the price of HBO.

In addition to name, address, and type of residence, DirecTV wanted to know if Bell owned or rented his home.

“That stopped me,” Bell told the LA Times. “Why should he care? I told him I just wanted a price quote. He said we’d get to that. And then he asked for my Social Security number.”

That was T.M.I. for Bell’s tastes and he quickly hung up.

Requesting a Social Security number these days is a red flag, often giving warning the person asking is about to run a credit check on you.

Sure enough, Robert Mercer, a DirecTV spokesman, explained the satellite provider pulls a credit report on every potential customer to determine their financial viability. DirecTV doesn’t want deadbeat customers, not after spending close to $900 to install satellite television in the average home.

If you don’t like it, you can pay DirecTV a $300 deposit and keep the number to yourself. The money is gradually refunded in the form of $5 monthly service credits each month you maintain service.

Cable companies are also notorious for running credit checks on customers, which can appear to other creditors as a request to extend credit. Too many credit inquiries can temporarily cut your credit score or worse, deny you credit.

AT&T and Verizon are also sticklers for good credit so expect them to run credit checks as well.

Time Warner Cable stands out among others for at least taking an interest in protecting customer privacy and preventing possible identity theft.

Dennis Johnson, a company spokesman, told the newspaper it can run a preliminary credit check with only the last four digits of a Social Security number and your date of birth.

Consumer privacy advocates argue that in the age of identity theft, nobody should be providing a Social Security number to anyone without a clear understanding it is being used to establish credit, open an account, or get earned retirement benefits. Consumers asked for a Social Security number for any other purpose should ask if they can avoid providing it or at least carefully scrutinize the request. If uncomfortable, simply end the conversation.

Nine of the ten lowest ranked firms in America are cable and telephone companies, according to a new report from research firm Temkin Group.

A poll ranking customer service at 235 U.S. companies across 19 industries found cable companies dead last, quickly followed by Internet Service Providers (often those same cable operators).

Participants were asked to rate their satisfaction with different companies on a scale of “1” (very dissatisfied) to “7” (completely satisfied). Not very many participants gave high marks to their telecommunications service provider. Temkin’s resulting net satisfaction score found familiar names in the cable and telephone business scraping the bottom.

America’s worst provider? Charter Communications, which managed an embarrassing dead last 22 percent satisfaction score for television service. Time Warner Cable managed second worst for television at 25%, followed by Cox and Cablevision’s Optimum service (both 28%). Bottom rated Internet service came from Qwest (now CenturyLink), Verizon (presumably DSL), and Charter — all scoring just 31%.

Oddly, Temkin’s survey participants gave top marks to the long-irrelevant AOL for Internet service, which may mean those dial-up customers don’t know any better. Highest marks in television service went to Bright House Communications, which ironically depends on Time Warner Cable for most of its programming negotiations.

Most suspect the ratings show long-term customer dissatisfaction with endless rate increases, poor customer service and reliability, and lack of choice in an increasingly expensive television lineup.

The Temkin Group gathered its data from an online survey of 10,000 consumers in the U.S. during January 2013, all asked to rate their experiences with companies over the past 60 days.

Starting today, Time Warner Cable customers can watch live streaming video of the company’s NY1 English and Spanish language channels on a redesigned website.

Customers across the country can view the New York City-based news channels by logging in with their TWC ID.

NY1 also announced their website’s video clips are now compatible with Apple iOS — an important consideration for iPhone and iPad users.

NY1 is one of several regional news channels operated by the cable operator. All of Time Warner’s local news networks are expected to be rebranded as “TWC News” starting later this year.

Updated 8/23: Time Warner Cable sent us a statement:

“Time Warner Cable customers in the New York City area will have access to the continuous live streams of NY1 and NY1 Noticias by signing in with their TWC ID username and password. Also, the news channel sites are now available for live streaming online for all Time Warner Cable video customers.”

[flv width=”534″ height=”320″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/NY1 NY1 Streamed Live 8-21-13.mp4[/flv]

NY1 reports their two news channels are now available for live streaming online for all Time Warner Cable customers.  (1 minute)

Pay television providers forced Al Jazeera to remove or block its online video content from American viewers in return for launching its new news channel on cable systems this week.

The Qatar-based news network had maintained a loyal, but small online audience for its English language news programming, using video streaming to reach American audiences that could not watch on cable or telco-TV.

For Time Warner Cable and AT&T U-verse customers, neither of which carry the new Al Jazeera America network, the move effectively cuts off viewing of the news channel’s English language programming.

The removal of Al Jazeera video content began with the termination of its live global English language stream within the United States. That was followed by blocking the network’s video clips on YouTube. The only way for viewers to watch the network now is by paying a cable, telephone, or satellite operator, assuming they are willing to carry it.

AT&T U-verse suddenly dropped predecessor Current TV just hours before Al Jazeera America was scheduled to launch in its place. The loss of five million potential viewers came as a complete surprise, culminating in a lawsuit filed against AT&T for violating its contract.

“Unfortunately, AT&T’s decision to unilaterally delete Al Jazeera America presented us with circumstances that were untenable — an affiliate that has willfully and knowingly breached its contractual obligations,” Al Jazeera America wrote in a statement issued Tuesday night. “Al Jazeera America’s strong hope is to resolve this matter quickly.”

AT&T issued its own statement stating the company “could not reach an agreement with Al Jazeera that we believed provided value for our customers and our business.”

Riyaad Minty, Al Jazeera’s head of social media has fielded complaints from loyal viewers who never got to watch the channel through their pay television provider and now can’t access the network without one. Minty tweeted the network was considering a new online offering within weeks, but it would not include Al Jazeera America.

The news channel is forced to tread carefully because of restrictive terms in its carriage agreements, designed to cut off cord cutters who refuse to pay for cable television. Most cable contracts forbid allowing cable networks to stream their programming online unless they offer it only to those who can prove they already pay an authorized provider.

Time Warner Cable is reportedly still negotiating with the news channel, which usually asks for less than five cents a month per subscriber. But no decision had been reached. Time Warner dropped predecessor network Current TV hours after news stories reported Al Gore, Jr. and other owners had sold the channel to the Qatar news organization.

Concern about programming costs only goes so far. While Time Warner Cable and Bright House customers continue to go without Showtime and access to CBS programming online (in addition to local station blackouts in New York, Texas and California), the two cable companies have found room in the budget to add two new expensive sports networks to their lineups.

Fox Sports 1 and 2 replaced the much-less-expensive Speed and Fuel Networks Aug. 17 on both cable systems. Fox had been getting 23¢ per subscriber each month for Speed and about 20¢ monthly for Fuel. Fox expects both cable operators to pay a monthly fee of 80¢ per subscriber for Fox Sports 1, rising quickly to $1.50 within a few years, according to Sports Business Daily. The cost of Fox Sports 2 is unknown.

Fox wants the two networks to gradually rival the most expensive network in your cable television package – ESPN. To manage that, Fox will need to engage in a bidding war with its Walt Disney-owned rival to grab the most-watched sporting events. Sports franchises love that, because they will profit handsomely from the proceeds. But both Fox and Walt Disney are bidding with cable subscribers’ money. The more sports programming costs, the higher cable bills will rise. ESPN already charges at least $5 a month per subscriber. To rival ESPN, Fox Sports may eventually have to charge as much, boosting cable bills an extra $4-5 a month for the competing sports networks.

“It’s going to be a popular channel,” said Joe Durkin, Bright House senior director of corporate communications. “It’ll be rich with sports, and we’re happy to bring it to our customers.”

Fox Sports negotiated access to more than 90 million U.S. homes through agreements with most large cable, telephone, and satellite TV distributors. Attracting them: at least 5,000 annual hours of live events and original programming including college basketball and football, joined by Major League Baseball next year. The network will also feature NASCAR, international soccer and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) competitions.

Fox Sports 2 will feature mixed martial arts at the outset, with more programming coming as the network develops.

Besides the two national sports networks, Fox also owns almost two dozen regional sports channels including Prime Ticket and Fox Sports West. It also acquired a 49% stake in New York’s YES, the Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network, with an option to buy it outright later. It also recently acquired a sports channel in Cleveland.

Fox also plans to launch another entertainment cable network Sep. 2 with the debut of a companion to the FX network Fox is calling FXX.

FXX is being programmed for… you guessed it, young adults aged 18-34 — the most coveted demographic for advertisers. It will feature reruns and original programming, including Parks and Recreation, Arrested Development, How I Met Your Mother, Freaks and Geeks, Sports Night, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The League and Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell.

You may not have asked for the new network, but chances are you are getting it anyway. Fox has signed carriage agreements with Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Charter, Verizon FiOS, AT&T U-verse, and both satellite services.