time warner-related stories
Posted Aug 14th 2009 8:01PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Industry, Programming, Web, TiVo, Reality-Free
Everyone is always up in arms about the
Nielsen ratings, saying they don't accurately represent the shows that a lot of people like or aren't measured correctly or simply don't matter in this age of DVRs, iTunes, network web sites, and DVDs.
Now it looks like the
networks are giving a thought to providing an alternative. CBS, NBC, Disney, News Corp, Discovery, Time Warner, and Viacom are getting together and hope to have some sort of plan on what the "consortium" will do by the end of September. A VP at Starcom MediaVest, one of the companies involved, says that they don't necessarily want to replace Nielsen but there's no reason why another company can't "come in and do both [TV measurement and digital measurement]"
[via
TV Tattle]
Posted Apr 9th 2009 8:06PM by Nick Zaino
Filed under: Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Industry, Programming, Reality-Free
I am an unabashed fan of what Frank Zappa once called "Cheepnis," a certain quality shared by really good, low budget horror and sci-fi films. Which is why I was happy a couple of years ago when my cable provider picker up FEARnet, which gave me cheepnis on demand. And it's also why I'm glad I don't have Time Warner or Bright House Cable, who recently dropped the network, leaving their subscribers without the ability to watch both
Warlock films on impulse, or
Near Dark, or
Idle Hands.
Our colleagues over at
Cinematical have a good overview of the story (and a link to the FEARnet page showing Night of the Creeps). There's also a page on FEARnet
with a phone number for the network, which will lead you to operators who will help connect you with your cable provider to demand (or ask politely, as Cinematical's Scott Weinberg suggests) that they reinstate FEARnet.
Continue reading Support swells for returning FEARnet to Time Warner
Posted Jan 1st 2009 11:20AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Industry, Programming, Reality-Free
After a
much publicized battle, Time Warner Cable and Viacom have
settled their dispute. For the new year, Time Warner Cable subscribers can enjoy such channels as Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, VH1 or (God help them) MTV.
I didn't see this going any other way. If Viacom withheld its (very popular) line-up of channels from TWC, both of them would lose a valuable revenue stream. This is not a good idea in such an economy where people lose their jobs; I've learned that when the income stops coming in for most households, the first thing to go is cable television. This is not the case for me because the first thing to go in my house in such a situation would be the groceries (no way am I giving up Stephen Colbert).
At least subscribers can now enjoy such greats as
Spongebob Squarepants, South Park,
The Daily Show and
The Colbert Report. Sadly it means they'll also have to put up with
The Hills.
Posted Jul 7th 2008 3:43PM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Industry, Reality-Free
In a piece of news that should surprise very few people,
Lehman Brothers has cut the stock ratings on the Walt Disney Company, Time Warner and several other top entertainment companies. The reasons behind this include the rise of legal digital downloading cutting into advertising revenue and the concern of piracy cutting into primary profits such as DVD sales.
"To be clear, our fear is that the damage that digital distribution inflicted on the music industry will replicate itself in the movie industry, and our fears are too great to justify keeping neutral or positive ratings on the creators and distributors of movie and TV content," wrote analyst Anthony DiClemente.
Continue reading Analyst says TV industry facing dark days ahead
Posted Jun 22nd 2008 10:33AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Sports, Reality-Free
If you're a pro football fan and you don't get the NFL Network, chances are you know about the stalemate between the NFL Network and cable operators, like Time Warner. Because of their inability to strike a compromise,
eight NFL games last season which The NFL Network broadcast, were unavailable to many cable customers, causing much hue and cry.
Well, it looks like there may be a light at the end of the tunnel.
ESPN is talking with The NFL Network about a broadcasting partnership, that according to The Associated Press. If a deal is done, NFL Network games in 2008 could be seen by just about everyone, not just those of us who are satellite subscribers.
Continue reading Is ESPN teaming up with The NFL Network?
Posted May 31st 2008 9:02AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Industry, OpEd, Reality-Free
Time Warner will soon be offering its users a way to stream Internet video to their television screens as part of an overall home networking system. In short, Time Warner is getting into the same business that Apple TV has already gotten into long ago.
"We're actually going to have equipment we make available to subscribers," said Chief Executive Glenn Brit at the Sanford C. Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference in New York this past Friday. "It's actually going to be a new wireless cable modem that will allow you to network everything in your house."
Continue reading Time Warner cable to offer Web TV
Posted May 28th 2008 10:01AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Industry, OpEd, PVR Wire, Cable/Satellite, Reality-Free
Verizon Communications is hoping to have its FiOS TV service available to customers in New York City within the next two months. This would be a tremendous boon to those who subscribe to cable, as suddenly the choice for providers will increase from solely Time Warner.
From the article: "Verizon spokesman John Bonomo said the city's Franchise and Concession Review Committee had given the green light to the video service, which is delivered along with high-speed Internet over an all-fiber network and is meant to compete with cable television."
Continue reading Verizon FiOS to debut in NYC?
Posted May 22nd 2008 11:21AM by Brett Love
Filed under: Industry, Reality-Free
This one just struck me as a bit odd. HBO has signed long time NY Times columnist Frank Rich on as a creative consultant. The two are tight-lipped about what projects he may or may not be working on already, but his new position is described as contributing to original program development. Apparently there will also be the opportunity for Rich to become a producer of projects that he helps with.
He's going to keep his gig at the Times while working with HBO, although he will avoid writing about the network, or their corporate overlords (and ours), Time Warner. Hiring creative consultants isn't the usual modus operandi for HBO, and programming group president Richard Plepler added that "it is not something the network is looking to do on a regular basis." Odd as it sounds on the surface, Rich did spend 13 years as the Times' chief theater critic, so he has some background for the gig. And anything that gets us closer to Jay Black, creative consultant to The CW, has to be a good thing, right?
Posted Aug 13th 2007 11:40AM by Brad Linder
Filed under: PVR Wire, Cable/Satellite
Time Warner is
preparing to test a new free service that will give both viewers and advertisers more control over their TVs. From the consumer side, Time Warner's "Look Back" service is something more than video on demand, but something less than a personal video recorder. From an advertising perspective, this could be the future.
Here's how it works. You can watch pretty much any show on demand the same day it airs, up until midnight. Two of your favorite programs are on against one another? No problem. Watch one live, and watch the next right after. Of course, if those two shows are on at 11PM, you're out of luck, but that's beside the point. Or is it?
Continue reading Time Warner to test PVR-like "Look Back" service
Posted Jul 26th 2007 11:00AM by Brad Linder
Filed under: PVR Wire
Time Warner president Jeff Bewkes says cable providers should be working toward
providing on-demand versions of every television program from every television network.
If consumers can watch any show they want any time they want, he argues, cable providers can save the time and money it takes to install personal video recorders in their houses. Of course, by eliminating the need for PVRs, cable companies could also be removing the consumer's ability to skip advertisements. "Free" video-on-demand would have to be advertising supported, and that means cable providers would disable the fast-forward function.
And that's why I don't really see Bewkes' plan working. Certainly one of the most appealing aspects of a PVR is that you can watch shows whenever you feel like it. But being able to pause, rewind, fast-forward, and yes, skip commercials is another part of it. Would you be willing to pay as much for DVD purchases and rentals if there were ads that you couldn't skip?
Posted May 10th 2007 10:39AM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Industry
After being arrested in Las Vegas last weekend, accused of assaulting his girlfriend, HBO chairman and CEO
has decided to step down from his position.Of course, that's what Time Warner, HBO's (and our) parent company, said in a statement. But according to a statement from Albrecht, the resignation was tendered
at the request of his TW bosses. Right after the incident happened, Albrecht was supposed to take a leave of absence so he can continue alcohol treatments and work with AA that he had discontinued, but
other incidents involving assaults against women were revealed, prompting TW to ask for the executive's resignation.
The network's COO, Bill Nelson, will assume Albrecht's duties on an interim basis until a successor is found. Albrecht had been with the network since 1985.
Posted May 8th 2007 1:41PM by Adam Finley
Filed under: Industry, Cable/Satellite
While nothing has been solidified yet, Comcast is in talks with several Hollywood studios to have movies aired on television the same day they're released in theaters. The cable company would charge subscribers thirty to fifty dollars to watch a new release at home, which seems awfully damn expensive to me.
Continue reading Comcast wants to air recent theatrical releases on TV
Posted Apr 2nd 2007 4:00PM by Brad Linder
Filed under: PVR Wire, Hardware
Sure, if the cable guy accidentally hooks you up with a couple of extra channels, you might conveniently forget to call the company and complain about the error. But what do you do when you order a new PVR and its hard drive is partially full when it arrives -- with porn.
One
Consumerist reader had just that problem. His new Time Warner box arrived, but before he could sit down and help set it up, he had to go out and run some errands, leaving his wife and 3 and 8 year old nieces to program in shows to record.
As his wife hits the list button, up pops a screen showing the previous owner's recordings, including
Hole Diggers - Part 2, which begins playing while his wife tries to figure out how to make the menu disappear.
Yes, this guy should obviously call Time Warner and complain. But the moral of this story is that you should probably check out any new hardware you get before using it, especially if it looks like it may be used. You never know what you're going to find.
Posted Feb 28th 2007 11:40AM by Brad Linder
Filed under: PVR Wire
I've spent a lot of time as a journalist covering City Council sessions in Philadelphia, but I've never sat in on a hearing quite as geeky as this. A Lincoln, Nebraska City Councilman
will hold hearings in March on Time Warner's PVRs which as pretty much anyone in the country who uses them can tell you, kinda stink.
Councilman Jonathon Cook -- a Time Warner customer -- says subscribers "are not getting what they paid for," with Time Warner PVRs. Apparently the city's franchise agreement with the cable company allows City Council to hold such hearings. It's entirely clear what actions the city could take against Time Warner in response to the hearings, but if there's one thing I learned during my aforementioned years covering legislative sessions, it's that you don't need actual power to hold a public hearing, you just need the urge to grandstand on a topic.
Lincoln Time Warner customers have complained that a new program guide rolled out by the cable company is both ugly and buggy, and that the cable boxes are slow to react to button presses on a remote control, all of which sound par for the course for generic cable company PVRs.
The Lincoln Journal Star, which reports the story also has a
page filled with customer complaints/suggestions for Time Warner.
[via
digg]
Posted Nov 23rd 2006 3:03PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Sports, Cable, Premium Cable, Industry, OpEd, Watercooler Talk
Tonight, the NFL Network broadcasts its first game, pitting the Denver Broncos against the Kansas City Chiefs. It promises to be a hard battle, with two longtime and bitter rivals fighting to stay in the playoff picture. This will also mark Bryant Gumbel's return to sports play-by-play, something he hasn't done in many, many years (he was NBC's NFL studio host before he got the
Today job; this may be his first play-by-play work since the seventies), and it will be fun to hear the always-opinionated Cris Collinsworth back in the booth. Should be a good game.
Here's the problem: I won't be able to watch it. And neither will the majority of fans.
Continue reading What if the NFL broadcast a game and no one watched it?
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