Time Warner Cable is seeking a patent for technology to let cable subscribers watch DVR recordings on mobile devices including tablets, smartphones, and computers outside of the home.

The patent application, obtained by FierceCable, shows most of the cable company’s efforts are directed at preserving licensing agreements for content viewing and managing restrictions on copying television shows and movies to external devices.

Time Warner Cable has proposed a three level security system for customer recordings. Level 1 would prohibit the customer from accessing DVR recordings, Level 2 would permit limited viewing and perhaps no copying, and Level 3 would allow open access to recordings and allow them to be shared with other devices.

The company theoretically could also use its security system to secure customer use, charging extra depending on how a customer wants to view DVR recordings remotely.

“Because of the increasing popularity of home networking, there is a growing need for a strategy that enables a user to perform authorized transfer of protected content, e.g., transferring content from an STT [set-top terminal] to a second device in a home network, and at the same time prevents unauthorized distribution of the protected content,” Time Warner Cable wrote in the patent application.

Time Warner could be the first cable company to allow remote viewing of DVR recordings if its patent application is approved. When working with InventHelp Invention Company, the chances of your patent application getting approved is higher. The company already offers a “whole home” DVR system that permits customers to start recorded shows on one television and finish them on another, but this enhancement would extend viewing outside of the home.

The company offered no comment about the patent or an estimate of when the service might become available.

Comcast says gun stores need no longer apply to purchase ad time on their cable systems.

The Lake County (Fla.) Commission is calling Comcast’s decision to no longer accept advertising from businesses that promote gun sales “discrimination,” and they are calling on the Florida legislature to pressure the cable operator to change its mind.

Local gun shops in central Florida are angry Comcast has stopped accepting their advertising and say the operator has an advertising monopoly that guarantees their ads will not be seen.

“I’ve advertised over 20 years with Comcast,” Carey Baker of Peterson’s Gun Shop told WFTV. “My business has no other choice. I can’t advertise on any other cable company.”

Both Time Warner Cable and Comcast have ceased running advertising from gun shops after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in Connecticut. Comcast said they simply adopted a pre-existing policy already in place at NBC after buying the network.

Many broadcast stations and networks also maintain restrictions on gun or ammunition-related advertising, some banning those commercials outright, others approving them on a case-by-case basis.

Some commissioners said the cable operator’s decision was just as unacceptable as not allowing a gun shop owner to eat in a local restaurant. But another commissioner dissented, claiming Comcast has the right to run its business as it pleases.

The matter of cable advertising is completely unregulated, and attempts by state or local governments to enforce ad content policies would likely be challenged in the courts by affected cable operators.

But Baker says local municipalities do retain some leverage, as they can deny the renewal of a cable franchise to those no longer seen serving the best interests of the community.

[flv width=”640″ height=”380″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WFTV Orlando Lake Co gun shop owner upset Comcast no longer allowing gun ads 4-24-13.flv[/flv]

WFTV in Orlando talks with Carey Baker, owner of a local gun shop that can no longer advertise on Comcast Cable.  (2 minutes)

After more than a year of aggressive promotions for new customers and those threatening to switch to a competitor, Time Warner Cable has pulled back to boost revenue and make greater profits.

CEO Glenn Britt told Wall Street investors on this morning’s quarterly results conference call that the cable operator is moving in a different direction.

“It’s based on a simple premise: sell people what they want and what they can afford in the first place,” Britt said.

In February, Stop the Cap! noted that Time Warner Cable’s new customer promotions had dramatically changed for the worse. The package prices remained the same — around $80 for a double-play or $89-99 for a triple-play package of cable, broadband, and/or phone service, but customers received a lot less for their money. For example, last year’s promotions bundled Standard/Turbo Service broadband (10-15Mbps) with most offers. Starting this year, only 3Mbps Internet is included. Equipment fees are still extra, but more costly than ever – $8.99 a month for a traditional set-top box, $21.94 a month for a DVR-equipped box and service.

Robert Marcus, Time Warner Cable’s chief operating officer now admits it was all part of the plan, and the company now earns 15-20% more from customers subscribing to the less-aggressive new customer promotions.

“In January we implemented a new pricing and packaging architecture that’s designed to drive greater [new customer revenue] and profit,” Marcus told investors. “We still advertise the same beacon prices, but the product packages are leaner, with lower speeds and fewer channels and features. Once our beacon offers get the phone to ring, our inbound sales reps are trained to help customers select options that are important to them, like faster broadband or a DVR. As a result, customers are up-sold into packages that better meet their needs.”

This year’s promotions largely only bundle 3Mbps broadband instead of the standard 10-15Mbps bundled last year.

Marcus admitted the trade-off is customers shopping around for the best deal who read the fine print are likely to consider an offer from a competitor more closely. Others are disconnecting service when their promotion expires.

Marcus

“By and large, when were talking about triple play disconnects, they are going to our telco competitors,” Marcus said. “When we’re talking about single-play video disconnects, they, by and large, leave us for satellite. We’re increasingly finding that phone customers are dropping landline phone for wireless-only, and there are video customers who are leaving — and broadband customers for that matter, who are leaving the category, and that’s probably more of an affordability issue than anything else.”

Verizon FiOS is Time Warner’s most dangerous competitor because it beats the cable operator on broadband speed and promotional pricing. Time Warner faces some of the highest disconnect numbers in FiOS areas. AT&T U-verse is also having a greater impact because AT&T recently decreased the price of both their triple and double-play promotions and has increased broadband speeds in some areas, Marcus reported.

Marcus said Time Warner is handling the subscriber churn fine, and the cable company now cares more about higher revenue and profits than attracting deal-hunters who shop on price.

“Last year’s aggressive triple play offers drove significant connect volume, which led to the highest quarterly subscriber net adds we’ve had over the last several years,” Marcus said. “But in large part, we were attracting discount seekers who are more likely to [switch after the promotion ended]. In many cases, we caused customers who didn’t need or want phone to take a triple play offer just to get the low triple play rates.”

What new customers Time Warner did attract largely took one or two products from the cable company, usually cable television and broadband. New phone service customers have declined year-over-year as a result of less attractive pricing. Instead, Marcus noted customers are spending on incremental broadband speed upgrades, which cost Time Warner much less than delivering phone service.

Nobody needs 1Gbps, argues Britt.

With the looming threat of Google Fiber in both Kansas City and Austin, Britt seemed generally unconcerned about the impact the gigabit broadband provider would have.

“At the end of the day, what we’re doing is not any different than an overbuilder, and we’ve had overbuilders for the last several decades in this business so that’s what they appear to be doing,” Britt said. “They appear to be very aggressive on price. They’re even giving some tiers away essentially for free, and we’ll see where that goes. Despite the glow and all of that, the products are essentially the same others are offering today in a practical sense.”

Britt said gigabit speeds probably won’t have the impact many customers think they should because most websites are not built to deliver content at those speeds.

Marcus noted that in Kansas City, Google has only passed 4,000 homes so far, about 2,000 of which are Time Warner Cable customers.

“The number of defections we’ve seen is de minimis at this point,” Marcus said.

Both Britt and Marcus responded to a question about consumption billing saying nothing had changed in the company’s thinking about usage caps or charging for what customers consumed.

“We have in place in almost all of our footprint the option for people to pay less money if they wish to really consume less,” Britt said. “People who want to keep getting unlimited and pay for that, can do that. So we really don’t have anything new. It is in place in our whole footprint, I think, except one location.”

“The take rate on that offering has still been fairly modest, but we think it’s a very important principle that there’s a relationship between usage and the price that customers pay,” Marcus added.

Some other highlights:

• Time Warner Cable’s cloud-based set-top box guide is now testing in employee homes with plans to roll the new boxes out to subscribers later this year. Britt said these were the first of a new generation of all-IP boxes, which means if you have a device in your house that knows how to receive IP, you’ll get access directly via WiFi or through a cable technology called MoCA;
• Time Warner Cable will digitally encrypt its entire television lineup in New York City;
• Time Warner Cable’s recent restructuring cost 500 employees their jobs, mostly in finance, marketing and human resources.

Austin gets a horn of plenty with free Time Warner Cable Wi-Fi because Google is coming to town.

As Time Warner Cable faces forthcoming competition from Google Fiber in Austin, the company is responding with the construction of a free Wi-Fi network for its broadband customers to protect its business.

TWC WiFi is available now from a limited number of hotspots, but hundreds more will become available across Austin in 2013 as the company builds out its wireless network.

Time Warner Cable customers with Standard Internet or above qualify for free access, as do Business Class customers. Others can trial the service for free and then buy access for $2.95 an hour.

“Increasingly, our Austin customers want to take their high-speed Internet with them out of the home and on-the-go,” said Area Vice President Kathy Brabson. “The TWC WiFi network we are building for Austin will allow our customers to greatly maximize their TWC Internet subscription at no additional charge.”

It is no coincidence Time Warner Cable has selected Austin for a Wi-Fi rollout. The Wi-Fi service was specifically intended to provide more value for Time Warner Cable customers in competitive markets to keep them from switching to a competitor.

It represents a sea change for a cable company that in 2009 targeted Austin for an Internet Overcharging scheme that would have slapped a usage limit and consumption billing on the area’s broadband customers. With the advent of strong competition from Google, Time Warner Cable is giving customers something instead of taking things away.

Austin customers can download the free TWC WiFi Finder app available in Google Play and the Apple App Store or visit www.twc.com/wificoverage to view the hotspot coverage map as the wireless network grows. Once authenticated, customers can also access Wi-Fi hotspots in other cities including New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Orlando, Tampa, Kansas City, Charlotte and more.

Greenlight, the broadband provider owned and operated by the city of Wilson, N.C. today announced that it will begin offering gigabit Internet connectivity services to its customers by this July.

“In January, the Federal Communications Commission issued a challenge to communities to provide gigabit service by 2015, and we’re proud to answer that challenge now. We are excited to launch our gigabit service and allow our customers to be the first in the state to experience such high speed Internet access,” said Will Aycock, general manager of Greenlight. “Ultra-high speed Internet will help position Wilson for the future and will provide our businesses and residents with the tools they need to succeed.”

In January, the Federal Communications Commission Chairman issued the “Gigabit City Challenge” which challenged providers to offer gigabit service in at least one community in each state by 2015. Gigabit services are approximately 100 times faster than average high-speed Internet connections.

Greenlight was formed in 2008 to offer an independent, locally owned and operated option for television, telephone and Internet broadband connectivity for Wilson residents. Since then, Greenlight has grown to offer services to more than 6,000 residential customers and businesses and the Wilson County School System. In addition, Greenlight provides free wireless Internet access throughout the downtown Wilson area.

The community-owned broadband provider far out-delivers broadband performance from competitors Time Warner Cable and AT&T. Neither the cable or telephone company was willing to upgrade service in Wilson so the city decided to launch its own public network and manage its broadband future itself.

Unfortunately, many cities in the Tar Heel State cannot follow Wilson’s lead. The state’s dominant commercial cable and phone companies lobbied the Republican-controlled legislature for legislation that makes it nearly impossible for other public broadband providers to emerge.

The gigabit option will become available this summer on the community’s fiber to the home network.