As we originally reported a few weeks ago, Time Warner Cable has launched a planned fall promotion offering new Wideband and SignatureHome customers a $300 rebate on a Slingbox PRO-HD purchased at a participating local Best Buy store or through the retailer’s website until November 30, 2011.

The high-end Slingbox allows customers to stream live cable programming and other video across their home broadband connection to computers, smartphones, or tablets (the latter two require a separate purchase of a $30 iPhone/iPad or Android app).

The offer is good only for Time Warner Cable customers serviced by the company’s New York City division who install new Wideband (50/5Mbps) standalone broadband service for $99 a month or who sign up for the company’s SignatureHome tier ($199/month), which includes Wideband service.  Existing Wideband or SignatureHome customers are not eligible, but current Time Warner customers who upgrade to either service are.

Time Warner Cable has configured the rebate offer to make sure customers pay on time and stay put for at least six months after signing up.  The rebate will appear as a $50 service credit for six months after being successfully processed.  If you pay your bill late or cancel service within six months, subsequent rebate service credits will be cancelled.

If you take advantage of this promotion, we strongly suggest you sign up for automatic payments to avoid a missed payment, which could cost you up to $300 — the value of the rebate — plus any associated late fees.  Remember, you also have to receive service from Time Warner’s NYC operation and the Slingbox must be purchased from Best Buy to qualify for the rebate.

Time Warner’s rebate website accepts online rebate submissions, so you can scan and keep your original receipts.  Since the cable operator will accept rebate submissions until February 15, 2012, there is plenty of time to refile if your original rebate request is lost.

[flv width=”640″ height=”331″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/SignatureHome Ad 9-2011.flv[/flv]

Time Warner Cable unveiled new advertising for its super-premium SignatureHome service last month.  The “concierge” service will bring your monthly cable bill to $199.  The concept of the $200 cable bill was unheard-0f just ten years ago.  (1 minute)

TWCable TV: Time Warner Cable's free iPad TV Everywhere app

Time Warner Cable has announced another upgrade to their free iPad TV Everywhere viewing app: TWCable TV.  In addition to ongoing bug fixes, Time Warner Cable’s Jeff Simmermon reports several new features are now included:

1) Basic search function.

With this update, you can search for programs by title or episode name within the iPad app. You do this by using the search bar located on the top right of the screen. To activate the keyboard, you’ll need to tap the search bar. Once the search results display, you’ll also have the ability to filter your results based on matching genres like News, Cooking, Travel, Sports, etc. We are working on advanced search (keyword, cast, crew) which should roll out sometime around the end of Q4/ beginning of Q1.

 2) You can now view closed captioned content.

To do this, look within the Settings menu of the TWCable TV iPad app and turn the closed captioning switch on. Some programs do not have closed captioning available. Those programs will not display captioning even when the closed captioning is turned on. Look for the closed captioning icon within the program description to determine if captioning is available on any given program.

3) You can now block specific live TV channels from viewing on the app.

Once a channel is blocked it will no longer be displayed in the live TV mini-guide. Please note that you will need to visit MyServices to activate parental controls, and you must exit and re-enter the app for the changes to take effect.

To activate/manage Parental Controls for the app, follow these steps:

• Visit myservices.timewarnercable.com and log into your MyServices account
• Click on either the MyAccount or MyTV tab within MyServices, scroll to the “TWCable TV for Devices” module
• Click on the “Edit blocked channels” link
• On the Edit TWCable TV Channel Blocking for Devices page, scroll down to the channel(s) you wish to block
• Click on the lock icon (it will turn red)
• To complete the parental control activation process, restart the TWCable TV iPad app by pressing the home button or signing out

These settings apply to the TWCable TV iPad app only. To manage parental control settings for your television, you still have to modify the settings on your video set top box using your remote control.

Miscellaneous bug fixes:
I’ve seen a lot of complaints about audio issues in the iPad app – many are saying that there’s no sound. This update should fix that.

Some users were not seeing HD channels in the lineup like they should have – that should also be fixed.

We also have made some minor design tweaks.

HBO GO: Finally available for Time Warner Cable premium customers?

The biggest problem we’ve experienced with the app at Stop the Cap! HQ is the highly-irritating paused/re-buffering playback, which has gotten progressively better over time.  Now, most paused playback occurs only within the first minute after changing channels, and usually does not repeat.  We maintain a 30/5Mbps Internet connection, so there is plenty of broadband speed available, but we suspect as more customers found the application, the cable company’s server capacity could not keep up.

The application’s annoying limitations also remain:

1. You must be a Time Warner Cable television subscriber to watch, with Time Warner Cable Internet service. (We haven’t tried to see if Earthlink from Time Warner works with TWCable TV).
2. Playback is limited to the range of your home broadband network’s Wi-Fi connection.  You cannot watch on other networks, and we’ve been unsuccessful trying to watch from another Time Warner Cable customer’s home.
3. Channel lineups vary market to market.  If your local Time Warner system does not carry a specific network, don’t expect to see it on TWCable TV, even if others elsewhere can watch.
4. No local channels are included.

In a related development, Bloomberg reports Time Warner Cable is close to a deal with HBO and sister network Cinemax to finally allow Time Warner Cable customers access to HBO GO and Cinemax GO, assuming you have a subscription to one or both premium channels.

The app allows access to past and current programs on smartphones, iPads and personal computers for no additional monthly charge.

Time Warner Cable plans to expand its budget-priced TV Essentials package market-tested in New York City and northeastern Ohio across the east coast over the next several weeks in an effort to reduce video package cord-cutting.

Rob Marcus, president and chief operating officer at Time Warner Cable made the announcement Wednesday at a Goldman Sachs-sponsored investor conference.

The package delivers a largely sports-free experience, deleting expensive ESPN and other sports-specific networks from the lineup.  News channels are limited to networks from CNN, and while HGTV is included, Food Network is not (although you can watch the Cooking Channel to get by).

With Time Warner Cable customers now paying an average of $73.50 a month for television service, a package priced between $30-40 may help keep income-challenged consumers from canceling service.  But it is unlikely to reduce cord-cutting among those switching to online viewing.  Time Warner Cable does not heavily promote the package, instead pitching it on a targeted basis, especially to those who call to disconnect service.

Every little bit helps, says Marcus.

“We’ve been challenging ourselves to design an offering that might be more attractive and affordable to those customers who might not be able to handle the full packages,” Marcus said. “The numbers are still pretty small, but the results are sufficiently encouraging that we’re going to roll that out more broadly.”

In northeast Ohio, the TV Essentials package includes all local broadcast channels, public, educational, and government channels, and these cable networks:

Big cable companies are targeting their non-customers, and those current customers who refuse to sign up for triple-play bundles, with some of the most aggressively-priced promotions in years.  The two largest, Comcast/Xfinity and Time Warner Cable, have been sending out letters offering dirt cheap $20 Internet service or cable television packages that include DVR service, a second set top box, and hundreds of digital cable channels for $49.99 a month for two years.

Comcast

Comcast promotions vary in different markets, depending on who their competitors are.  The best pricing goes to new customers, as a recent promotion sent to suspected DSL customers in their service areas illustrates.

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The cable company is pitching 12 months of Xfinity Performance (typically around 12Mbps) for $19.99 a month for the first year for new customers only.  Some customers report they can cancel penalty-free at the end of the first year, while others are told Comcast is actually pitching a two-year contract where the price of the service increases to $34.99 a month during the second year (a early cancellation fee pro-rated to less than $50 applies in some areas if you cancel early).  This pricing applies to standalone service, which makes it aggressively priced.  Most cable providers charge a higher price for Internet-only service.  Some customers also report a $25 or more installation fee applies (and in some areas an in-person install is required for new customers).  We’ve heard from some readers that successfully qualified for the promotion under the name of a spouse if they have had Comcast service previously.  Otherwise, Comcast usually requires customers to be without service for 90 days before they are considered “new customers.”

Customers can try calling 1-877-508-5492 to request this offer: $19.99/Month for 1 year with no additional service required (Code at bottom of letter: LTP79376-0014).

If that number does not work from your calling area, other numbers to try include: 1-877-298-0903 (CA, TX), 1-877-508-5492 (CA, WV), 1-877-494-9166 in NJ (currently pitching 6-month version of this promotion without contract.)

If 12Mbps is not fast enough, ask the representative what promotional pricing exists for faster speeds.  Some customers scored 35Mbps service for $10 more per month.

A separate ongoing promotion from Comcast offers Blast Internet service at 25Mbps+ on similar terms.  But pricing varies wildly in different markets.  Customers in California were able to purchase this promotion for as little as $19.99 a month with a year-long contract, while customers in Chicago were asked to pay $39 for essentially the same service.

Comcast’s promotions list runs several pages, so if you are shot down asking for these promotions, ask about other current offers or hang up and try calling again and asking to speak with someone else.  Your results may vary depending on the representative you speak with.  Remember Comcast’s 250GB usage cap applies to all residential service plans.

Time Warner Cable

In addition to regular Road Runner standalone Internet service promotions that deliver Standard Service speeds for $29-35 a month for a year, Time Warner has been getting very aggressive trying to win back cord-cutters and those who have left for a competing pay television provider.  The cable company has mailed letters to non-cable TV customers in the northeast pitching substantial discounts on cable TV service price-locked (but no commitment term for you) for two years and includes free DVR equipment, DVR service, and a second set top box with digital cable TV for $49.99 a month.  They’ll even credit back the cost of any early termination fees charged by another provider over the course of the first year of service.

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The promotion is intended primarily for customers who already receive service from another provider, but new customers can call 1-855-364-7797 and ask for the offer without the competing provider early termination fee rebate.  If you do receive service from another provider, there are various requirements and steps to follow to qualify for up to $200 in termination fee credits.  Visit SwitchtoTWC or call them to learn the details.

Neither of these promotions work for existing Time Warner Cable customers.  If you already subscribe, discounts will be offered when you threaten to cancel service.  Retention deals from Time Warner Cable can be as aggressively priced as new customer promotions.  We have found retention offers made during the initial call to request a service disconnection are often not very aggressive.  Most representatives try and pare back your package before starting to offer retention pricing (which gradually gets better the more times you reply, “is that the best you can offer?”)

Our best recommendation is to call and request to cancel service 2-3 weeks from today and wait for a Time Warner Cable retention specialist to call you (answer those mystery caller ID calls — it could be Time Warner).  The reps that call you directly often deliver the most aggressive retention deals.  If nobody does reach out to you, call Time Warner yourself a few days before the disconnect is scheduled and ask them to make you an offer to rescind your disconnect request.  You may find some serious savings taking this approach.  If not, you still have time to rescind your disconnect request on your own before the plug gets pulled.

Time Warner Cable customers in Maine are the first in the country to deal with Time Warner Cable’s decision to abandon analog cable television to make room for more digital channels, faster Internet speeds, and enhanced phone service.

Nearly 90,000 subscribers in 105 Time Warner Cable-franchised communities are receiving letters advising them they better clear off space on top of the television set if they don’t already have a cable box or a CableCARD.  They’ll need the space to accommodate a new set top digital adapter box that will let analog television sets receive the new digital signals.  In return, Time Warner Cable will be able to cram 10-15 digital channels into a space formerly occupied by just a single analog channel.

Time Warner Cable will provide a few of the devices for free until 2014, after which the company will begin billing customers $0.99 a month for each digital adapter still active on their account.

Customers in Lewiston, Augusta, Rumford, and Mexico are registering to receive the boxes on a special website Time Warner Cable has launched to handle the transition.  Those customers will see almost all analog cable signals cease on Wednesday, Oct. 19.  The only exception is Time Warner Cable’s “Broadcast Basic” channels, which include local over the air stations and public, educational and government access channels.  In Maine, that includes channels 2-22.

Time Warner Cable says customers with QAM-tuner-equipped televisions won’t need the digital adapters, but some Maine residents question that, noting Time Warner traditionally encrypts most of its QAM channels. There is a strong suspicion those customers will also need digital adapters or a set top box — a ludicrous situation for some.

“I own a set with a QAM tuner built-in, and it looks like I either pay Time Warner Cable for a digital set top box or watch signals downconverted into lower quality analog with a digital adapter,” writes Stop the Cap! reader Lou in Augusta. “Either way, I’ll be paying Time Warner Cable more either immediately, or in two years.”

Lou says the complexities of channel mapping QAM signals guarantees most subscribers will pay for a box.

“It’s cumbersome to scan for open QAM channels, the channel numbers are all messed up, and sometimes the numbers change without warning,” Lou says.

Lou opted for two digital adapters, one for an older bedroom television set and the other for his son’s bedroom.  He completed the installation on his own in about 30 minutes, noting Time Warner Cable will charge $17.99 to roll a truck to handle installation themselves.  The biggest wait came when it was time to authorize the boxes.

“They left me on hold 20 minutes and the woman apparently was not well-trained because she kept asking for help from a supervisor,” Lou shares.  “After getting the boxes activated, they worked about as well as expected, and at least now we can watch digital cable channels on analog televisions in the house without the more expensive set top box.”

Lou doesn’t mind the fact Time Warner is dumping analog cable, he just minds how they are doing it.

“There is no reason we should have to pay the cable company more just so they can consolidate channel space for their own benefit,” Lou says.  “Digital adapters should be free, forever, and QAM channels should be opened up so those of us with tuner-equipped televisions don’t have to get an unnecessary box or adapter just to watch digital channels.”

Time Warner Cable started their nationwide transition as far to the east as they possibly could.  But gradually, every Time Warner Customer will experience the digital transition for themselves.  For the cable company, the transition in Maine is also an experiment to learn what kind of reaction the company gets from its subscribers, says the Sun Journal:

Time Warner is unsure how the conversion will be accepted by the public. This region — from Camden to Waterville and Carrabassett Valley to Poland — is the national company’s first to make the switch. Other markets, including those in the rest of Maine, will follow, said Andrew Russell, spokesman for Time Warner New England.

Meanwhile, no one knows for sure how many boxes will be distributed or whether people will accept the fees when they begin in 2014.

From the cable company’s perspective, the fee is nominal. Similar conversion boxes, which only convert digital signals and don’t unscramble them as Time Warner’s do, cost $40 to $60 at local technology stores.