In late February, LIN Television, owner of Norfolk’s NBC affiliate WAVY and Hampton Roads’ Fox station WVBT was engaged in a high profile battle with Cox Cable over retransmission consent fees — the price the cable company pays to put over the air broadcast stations on the cable dial.  While neither side would say exactly how much money was involved, Cox Cable customers will foot the bill starting April 2nd, when the Virginia cable operator raises rates up to 18.3% for basic cable — the fourth rate hike since 2009 and the second in 10 months.

A breakdown:

• TV Starter (broadcast basic + a handful of basic cable networks) up 18.3% — was $18, now $21.30
• TV Essential (local stations + 40 popular basic cable networks) up 5.5% — was $59.99, now $63.29
• Digital set top box rental up $1 to $6.99
• Cox Internet Essential (3Mbps) up 16% — was $24.99, now $28.99

LIN Media owns local stations around the country.

Cox officials blamed the rate increases on the cost of programming, notably for local stations.

“Programming costs are rising much faster than the rate of inflation,” Felicia Blow, a Cox spokeswoman, wrote in an email to the Virginian Pilot. “While we absorb much of the increase incurred […] we must pass on a portion of the increases to our customers.”

Local broadcasters across the country are aggressively pursuing retransmission consent fees as the traditional advertising model for free, over the air television, has been challenged by the soft economy and poor ad sales.  Parent companies that own clusters of local stations also see the fees as a lucrative new revenue stream for themselves and their investors.

Over the past decade, Cox generally has raised its prices about once a year, notes the Virginian Pilot. The company began speeding up the timetable in 2010. With the latest change coming in April, Cox will have boosted rates for at least some parts of its service – particularly the cost of its most popular package – four times since November 2009.  Approximately 90 percent of 416,000 Hampton Roads-area Cox customers will be paying more for cable service this spring as a result.

[flv width=”360″ height=”290″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WAVY Norfolk Attention COX Communications Subscribers 2-29-12.mp4[/flv]

WAVY in February reported on its parent company’s battle with Cox Cable in this self-serving story aired on its evening newscast.  (3 minutes)

All Canadians fall somewhere on the Bell/Rogers Anger Continuum.

[flv width=”640″ height=”380″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/Conglomermate.flv[/flv]

Introducing Conglomermate — “Only Conglomermate makes sure you’re matched up with someone in the same phase you are.” — The Rick Mercer Report  (1 minute)

[flv width=”640″ height=”380″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/Living in a Smart City Chattanooga TN.flv[/flv]

The only one Gigabit broadband service currently available in the United States for residential and business customers is in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Meet people who live and work in one of the smartest cities in the country: what services do they embrace today, what is their vision for the future, and what kind of culture do they think makes this all possible.  New jobs are moving into Chattanooga every day, and existing companies are learning to take advantage of the new business opportunities gigabit broadband delivers.  You may be surprised to learn America’s best Internet access comes from a publicly-owned utility that works hard every day for its customers, not investors and banks living a thousand miles away.  (6 minutes)

Verizilla

The Communications Workers of America has a new, decidedly low-budget video decrying a spectrum swap between America’s largest cable companies and Verizon Communications that will leave Verizon Wireless stores pitching cable television service from one of Verizon’s cable company competitors.

To the CWA, this is nothing less than the birth of Verizilla, a new monster of a telecommunications company that has capitulated on competing with Big Cable and will instead devour the wireless communications marketplace for itself.  The CWA interest is obvious: many of its employees are responsible for constructing and maintaining Verizon’s now-stalled FiOS fiber to the home network.

From the CWA:

The deal, struck behind the closed doors of America’s corporate boardrooms, poses a threat to consumers and workers. If it goes through, it will be the death knell for competition between cable and telecom companies. Verizon Wireless, Time Warner, Comcast, and other cable companies will become a giant, unregulated quasi-monopoly. Verizon will have no incentive to challenge cable by building FiOS into new areas — meaning less competition, consumer choice, and higher prices for consumers.

Less FiOS also means fewer jobs building, maintaining, servicing, and installing the network. This deal will create a corporate behemoth that will use exclusive quad-play market power to shrink its future workforce.

Worst of all, Verizon Wireless and the cable companies are refusing to come clean about the details of the deal. Even as the FCC and Department of Justice review it, we still don’t know what it means for consumers or workers.

The CWA has so far collected more than 135,000 signatures on its petition opposing the current form of the deal. 

[flv width=”640″ height=”380″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/Verizilla.flv[/flv]

America, say hello to Verizilla, wreaking reduced investment havoc on Verizon service areas across the northeastern United States.  (2 minutes)

[flv width=”360″ height=”290″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WPRI Providence What Would You Give Up for the Internet 3-22-12.mp4[/flv]

What would you give up to keep the Internet?  WPRI in Providence ponders what people would be willing to sacrifice if it meant they could keep broadband service.  A new study from a Boston consulting group proves that Americans increasingly depend on immediate, fast, and affordable access to the Internet.  Providers aren’t asking for you to stop showering, give up sex, or throw in the towel on family vacations.  Some just want you to pay more for less service at a time when a lot of people treat the Internet as their primary means of communication.  (Loud Volume Alert!)  (6 minutes)