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TWC and your Cable Company / Bright House to drop TWC?

« on: May 28, 2010, 09:39:52 PM »

I found this in my email this evening. Found it interesting that it is coming out NOW... after the whole mess with DISH network boiled over and we gained, then lost, The Weather Cast.

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/may/28/weather-channel-risk-bright-house-negotiation/

The Weather Channel at risk in Bright House negotiation

By RICHARD MULLINS | The Tampa Tribune
Bright House Networks customers, get out a pencil and paper. The cable television provider will soon change dozens of channel numbers, may lose channels altogether, and will force some customers to upgrade to newer cable boxes.

What's more, on the eve of hurricane season, Bright House is warning it could lose The Weather Channel unless a new deal can be negotiated between them. Others channels such as Starz, Lifetime and BBC America could disappear, as well.

To be sure, some of this is the typical brinksmanship that happens between cable companies and TV producers, who each year ask for more money to carry their shows.

But other channels will change numbers or service "tiers" no matter what, as Bright House tinkers with its technology to shuffle channels around and opens up more space for other programs.

The Travel Channel and Bright House Sports Network will disappear from so-called "analog" cable service and appear only on digital packages beginning June 30.

Bright House has about 1 million customers in the Tampa Bay region, about 70 percent on digital systems versus analog.

Bright House Sports Network will remain on channel 47 but will expand to also appear on the lower-priced Basic level. The channel will also change frequency, a move that will affect customers who plug their cable directly into higher-end TVs. (They'll need to run a "rescan" to regain the channel. For help, see brighthouse.com/rescan.)

Other changes include Oxygen on Demand moving from channel 354 to 360, and MTV Tr3s changing its name to only Tr3s.

Bright House is also changing some network technology over time. For now, that will affect fans of Hallmark Channel HD and National Geographic Wild HD, some of whom will have to upgrade to newer, digital TV boxes. That can also affect customers who plug their cable directly into their TVs without a box.

Other channels are at risk of disappearing altogether. Each year, TV producers ask for more money for their shows, and cable TV companies resist. For now, Bright House is carrying a slew of channels on month-to-month contracts. Bright House is starting to formally notify customers in public advertisements about the risk of those negotiations breaking down.

Channels at risk: The Weather Channel, Encore, RetroPlex, Lifetime, E!, several Starz-related channels – all on month-to-month extensions. The contract for BBC America expires July 12.

Bright House officials say they're "working diligently" to work out terms that let the company keep providing the channels.