**EDIT: I've replaced the below text with the SlashGear article - its more interesting :)
Looks like good things come in pairs. Today, both Verizon and Time Warner announced that they are going to start issuing trials of Internet TV for subscribers. It’s part of the TV Everywhere initiative, and allows users to watch television shows on the web regardless of whether or not they’re at home. For Time Warner, you must have an existing cable TV service, and FiOS TV for the Big Red. Many of the shows on the provided networks will go online around their original air date, and actually shows that rarely reach sites or online retailers like Hulu or the iTunes Store respectively.
It’s looking like Verizon is planning a quieter approach to their trial, and not surprisingly, are only going to offer two Time Warner-owned channels: TNT and TBS. It’s Time Warner that’s taking the boom-stick approach, and plans on offering their own channels, as well as HBO, IFC, SyFy, and several other high-profile networks. 5,000 subscribers will be included to start, but Time Warner plans on reaching several more areas in the coming months. And as deals come through, both providers will be adding more channels regularly.
This TV Everywhere plan is an almost last-ditch effort from TV providers to get customers to keep their existing TV packages. A lot of people are shying away from standard television now a days, considering you get the same shows via the internet without much hassle anymore. Both Verizon and Time Warner are hoping that by providing Internet TV with their current plans, it will get people to keep their plans and not drop them. Time Warner has been under some heavy opposition for putting on low bandwidth caps in trials, to either discourage the switch from internet-only television watching, or to make up for the lost revenues. Either way, the bigger question is will people keep paying for their television when they can get it for free, if not cheaper on the internet?
Here we are again - Time Warner & Comcast trying to dig in by charging for "premium" online content. There is also an article in the Wall Street Journal about this. Thanks to Tom H. for pointing this out to us!
(WIRED) -- Two cable powerhouses have announced an ambitious pilot program that aims to convince their customers that, actually, TV on the web should not be free.
Jeffrey Bewkes, chairman and CEO of Time Warner, speaks at the NCTA conference in Washington.
With a service called TV Everywhere, Comcast and Time Warner will give cable subscribers access to "premium" television content via broadband, and later cellphone connections.
To begin with, 5,000 Comcast subscribers will begin testing the system next month, giving them access to Time Warner's TBS and TNT channels on their computers, and the same channels' video-on-demand catalogs on their cable boxes.
If you made peace long ago with the idea of paying a monthly cable bill, this probably sounds great. It means watching your existing subscription on new screens without paying additional fees or buying more hardware. (Of course, as consumers adopt TV Everywhere, they can probably expect price increases.)
But if you prefer to watch your television for free on ad-supported sites like Hulu while paying only for the internet connection that delivers it, you could be in for a rude awakening. TV Everywhere represents an alternative -- and possible threat -- to the popular Hulu model.
If the pilot program impresses the group -- and proves to other networks that its user-authentication system is secure -- Comcast and Time Warner expect the other television programmers, ISPs and mobile providers to join, giving all cable subscribers a way to watch the content they pay for on their televisions using any broadband-connected computer or authenticated cellphone.
Already "at least 92 percent of Americans qualify to watch this for free online," according to Jeff Bewkes, chairman and CEO of Time Warner.
For these subscribers, TV Everywhere represents a potential win. The only question is whether they will keep paying for the old cable subscription model as their viewing habits shift online.
There's nothing to stop television networks from putting their content on both Hulu and TV Everywhere, because TV Everywhere's contract will be non-exclusive, according to Bewkes. However, given the choice between Hulu and TV Everywhere, television programmers have an incentive to go with the latter.
Only the TV Everywhere model promises to port yesterday's lucrative business model onto today's platforms. And that, according to some critics, is exactly the problem.
"[TV Everywhere] raises substantial anti-competitive issues by restricting the availability of programming to the favored distribution methods," said Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of the public interest group Public Knowledge. "Under the TV Everywhere plan, no other program distributors would be able to emerge, and no consumers will be able to 'cut the cord' because they find what they want online. As a result, consumers will be the losers.
"In addition, we are concerned that this program violates the open nature of the internet. By adding this additional toll lane, Comcast and Time Warner want to create their own 'managed channel' within the internet and turn the internet into their own private cable channel."
So, what about Hulu? Will its deals fall through given this new option?
"There will be some part [of Time Warner's content] that will be out there [on Hulu], said Bewkes."Short-form content, I think, will continue to be available -- promotional content will continue to be available."
However, only cable subscribers will be able to access other content online -- through officially licensed avenues, anyway.
Bewkes added that some other television programmers have avoided Hulu "for security concerns and because they didn't like the model," but that they will give TV Everywhere a chance.
"Consumers vote every single month with their pocketbook," he added. "They don't have to subscribe to cable. They don't have to pay for these services, yet they do. The number of people paying for subscription television has gone up and up and up every single quarter that we've been in the business."
I've been meaning to post this, since it basically concerns what we're doing using our mac mini's as home theaters. I started following this late last week and now its hit on national news, so I will post it as I followed it.
In a move seemingly designed to further our frustrations with broadband providers, Time Warner Cable has soft-announced an "unlimited" package once its new data caps go into place... for an affordable $150 monthly charge. Responding to criticism over the company's plans to start capping usage and charging for overages, Landel Hobbs clarified the provider's stance, letting users know that the capping would be limited to a $75 ceiling, thus (when paired with its top tier plan) would provide "virtually unlimited" usage. Virtually unlimited. Here's a rundown of what the COO proposes:
A limited package for "light users" at 1GB/month, 768KB down / 128KB up, with overage charges of $2/GB/month.
Road Runner Lite, Basic, Standard, and Turbo packages at 10GB / 20GB / 40GB / and 60GB caps, respectively, and overage charges at $1/GB/month.
A big daddy, 100GB Turbo package at $75/month with overage fees of $1/GB, which, when coupled with that magic threshold of $75 in charges, becomes the "unlimited" plan.
We only have two questions, guys. First, how will you let end users know they're hitting caps? Right now there's no centralized solution for monitoring bandwidth. Even cell phones show minutes used, so will you give us the infrastructure for broadband monitoring? Secondly -- instead of giving users a "virtually" unlimited package, why not just sell an unlimited package at $150 a month? The impression we get is that you want to leave the door open for aggressive users, and that your capping of capping charges might be a moving target in the right situation.
Here is the official Time Warner response back to me:
Response: Thank you for contacting us. Time Warner Cable understands and embraces the current evolution in the way people are using the Internet for things like video, music, and more. We continue to manage our network to ensure that our all of our subscribers have a terrific user experience. We also recognize that the Internet was not designed to handle the mass amounts of video that are now being consumed, therefore there is a risk that service speeds could slow to a complete crawl unless proper investments are made. We are taking a multi-pronged approach that we feel will be to the benefit of our customers. As we are in the early stages of planning, we want to keep you informed of what we are doing to ensure our subscribers continue to enjoy all of the content available on the Internet today.
Our goal is to provide the best possible Internet experience for ALL of our customers, not to let the minority affect the majority. The vast majority of our customers will see no difference in their monthly bill. The challenge is to find an equitable way to charge customers so that we can pay for necessary infrastructure upgrades. We are looking to create a business model that will allow customers to choose the speed and consumption package that makes sense for their household Internet usage. With a consumption based billing plan, all customers will have access to a ''gas gauge'' that will enable them to track their consumption against their plan. A customer will have three months to get comfortable with the gauge before the bill hits. We don't want our customers to have any unpleasant surprises. Some of our customers may actually save money by ''right-sizing'' to a plan that meets their needs. We are happy to help them do that. Included in the extended trial is Greensboro, NC. Preliminary communications regarding specifics will begin in August 2009 in Greensboro, NC. Billing will follow these communications after a three month grace period. If you would like to speak with a live agent regarding this matter, please either visit your local Time Warner Cable office, or call your local Time Warner Cable Customer Care Center at 1-800-892-2253 or 1-866-874-2389.
Please let us know if we can be of any additional assistance.
Thank you for using Time Warner Cable. Elena Time Warner Cable Support Raleigh, NC 919-595-4892 1-866-489-2669
Naturally, I sent them back an email:
To:TWCable@nc.rr.com Sent: Friday, April 10, 2009 11:58:23 AM Subject: Re: Time Warner Cable Response to inquiry 180330
RESPONSE: Thank you for your response.
Especially given the current ongoing REASON for the economic situation, I find it unbelievable that Time Warner now wants to find another way to squeeze the customer for every last dime. Please forward to management that:
1. Pay for hours of internet during the dial up era of 1995-2000 is over and dead and people will leave Time Warner for other places like Verizon VIOS or AT&T IPTV if you start charging for bandwidth. You have basically stated you want the customers to pay for your infrastructure so you can make more money.
2. Cell phones have already started going to one price for unlimited minutes and bandwidth. Sprint has eliminated minute charges by going to $50/mo unlimited or $100 for unlimited internet bandwidth and cell phone. At&T is going to have 7MBPS later this year. My iphone , with 3.0 software this june is going to have tethering available. Don't be surprised when people start dropping Time Warner and using itunes to purchase TV shows over the internet connected by a tethered cellphone - all through AT&T and not Time Warner.
3. Blockbuster filed this week with the SEC that they can't pay back their last $250 million loan. On top of the $750 million they had picked up last time, this is basically saying they're going to follow suit with Circuit City. Do you think it is coincidence that the peak of Blockbuster stock was the same time Netflix'sIPO went out - Netflix has destroyed Blockbuster and Hollywood video with having NO LATE FEES and unlimited rentals and ever increasing watch it now capability. Netflix tried regulating watch it now 2 years ago to 10 hours or 20 hours per month depending on your membership - that lasted for about a year and they finally went unlimited. Smart move - now Blue Ray players are coming Netflix Ready, Philips has a Netflix ready TV, Tivo has Netflix, XboX has Netflix.
You are going to drive customers away when you start charging for internet. They will go to AT&T in this area. IPTV will be rolled out by the time you put this in place. They are going to offer 24MBPS with TV, Phone, Internet. If not AT&T, there will be something else. If someone wants internet, cable and regular HDTV, it is already about $130/month.That's just insane, and now you want to charge more...
Public rejects Time Warner metered-bandwidth tests
Time Warner Cable is reportedly having trouble finding submissive test subjects for its proposed scheme of charging US customers by the gigabyte for their internet service.
Additional trials for the company's new "consumption based billing" regime were slated to begin in several markets this summer, but public outcry has made the cable giant retreat from some of its attempts to stuff the all-you-can-eat internet genie back in the bottle - for now.
The company originally intended to expand tests of metered billing on April 13 to Rochester, New York, Greensboro, South Carolina, and San Antonio and Austin, Texas. But all has not gone according to plan.
After facing a surge of complaints from customers, Time Warner has decided to delay the rollout in both Texas cities until October. Presumably, a few months will make bandwidth caps easier to swallow.
"What happened as we're continuing to listen was we worked in some of the comments and ideas that got sent to us," Time Warner's South Texas veep of communications told the San Antonio Express News.
Pricing would have started at 1GB per month for $15, and go up to 100GB per month for $75. Each gigabyte over the limit would cost $1, except for the $15/month plan, which charges $2 per GB.
Time Warner and other providers trying to push metered internet on customers argue that internet demand is rising at a rate that could outpace capacity within a few years. The companies say they need to raise money to fix the infrastructure problem, and the fairest approach is to move to a tiered model where customers who use more bandwidth foot the largest bill.
Opponents have claimed firms like Time Warner want tiered pricing to discourage usage of bandwidth-heavy internet video, which could threaten cable TV packages the companies also offer. Time Warner, of course, denies this claim.
Testing the markets in Rochester and Greensboro will apparently continue as planned. Interestingly enough, Rochester's leading DSL provider, Frontier Communications, has already abandoned its plans for metered billing because of - you guessed it - public outrage.
"We have gotten hundreds of calls from Time Warner customers into our call centers," Frontier's local honcho told the Associated Press. "I guess it's been a public relations crisis for Time Warner."
Frontier claims it's grabbing internet market share because of objections to Time Warner's metered pricing plans. ®
Except—and you may have noticed this in financial circles—this whole unfettered free-market thing hasn’t worked out so well. Riddle me this: How many cable operators do you have in your town? I’ll start.
One.
Go ahead, you count now.
Anyone? Two? Three?
Time Warner shrinks from the word “monopoly,” but let’s face it, it and other cable operators drove the little guys out of business over a decade ago. They own their respective spaces. And the fact that they control both cable TV and broadband and are willing to manipulate one to affect another in the vast markets they control should make someone start paying attention.
“Time Warner’s decision has the potential to more than triple customers’ current rates and I think most families will find this to be too taxing to afford. Time Warner believes they can do this in Rochester NY, Greensboro NC, Austin TX and San Antonio TX, and it’s almost certainly just a matter of time before they attempt to overcharge all of their customers. And while I favor a business’s right to maximize their profit potential, I believe safeguards must be put in place when a business has a monopoly on a specific region.”
I’m an entire country away from this guy’s district, but I like the way he thinks. If you do too and would like to express the power of you, send him an encouraging e-mail message. The unfettered broadband you save may be your own.
It's already delayed its controversial broadband capping plan in a number of markets, and it looks like Time Warner Cable has now gone one big step further in Rochester, New York (one of the initial test markets), where it has reportedly scrapped the new tiered pricing plan altogether. As you no doubt recall, the plan was more or less modeled on cellphone pricing plans, and had intended to cap customers' data usage at a certain level and charge upwards of $1 per GB for any overages (eventually maxing out at $150 per month). That, naturally, didn't go over so well with folks, and even New York Senator Charles Schumer eventually got in on the act and complained directly to Time Warner Cable. Of course, this still doesn't officially mark the end of the pricing plan in other markets, but it certainly seems to be getting increasingly difficult for Time Warner Cable to move ahead with it.
