Is Comcast going to implode?

Discussion in 'TV & Media' started by Morpheus 02, Sep 15, 2009.

  1. Morpheus 02

    Morpheus 02 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Location:
    Chicago IL
    Been meaning to post this for a while...but i was wondering if anyone else feels like COmcast might be the next big corporation to implode:

    • ridiculous commercials (though my 4 year old seems fascinated by them)
    • Poor service (multiple outages)
    • Rising prices (such as on demand movies; costing now $4.99 and up; Redbox is only $1, and seems to have as good a selection)
    • Unneeed monopoly (in CHicago, CLTV, a 24/[really 13 3/4 hour] Chicago area news channel can ONLY be seen on COmcast)
    • Lackluster On Deman COntent
    • semi-randomly assigned channel numbers (HD channels kinda plopped in between ~ 171 and ~330; groupings that get interrupte by an unrelated channel)
    • Overcharge for HD package
    Anyone want to the list? Or am i just disgruntled?
     
  2. EnterpriseF

    EnterpriseF Commander Red Shirt

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    I agree. My main beef is that I have seen no additional HD channels added in my area since January!
     
  3. Robert Maxwell

    Robert Maxwell memelord Premium Member

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    Er, all those things point to Comcast actually doing very well. If they can provide shitty service while making you pay through the nose, business is good.

    I hate Comcast, but they seem to be doing just fine.
     
  4. LutherSloan

    LutherSloan Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Yes, Comcast is god-awful.

    However, I believe in at least some cities they have established themselves as the only cable provider by greasing the wheels at city hall. I know Tallahassee, FL (state capital) gave Comcast a legal monopoly on cable coverage in the city. Which I think should be illegal.
     
  5. EnterpriseF

    EnterpriseF Commander Red Shirt

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    Here where I live we're waiting for U-Verse but Comcast has blocked them in court
     
  6. LutherSloan

    LutherSloan Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Again, can't believe this stuff is legal. But this is what happens when corporations have the same rights as individuals.
     
  7. Robert Maxwell

    Robert Maxwell memelord Premium Member

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    No, this is what happens when you give cable companies a loophole telecoms don't have.

    At this point, there is very little functional difference between what Comcast does and what AT&T does. The difference is, AT&T is regulated so they must open their lines up to competitors. Cable companies are allowed to have local monopolies and are not required to share their lines whatsoever.

    Telecom regulation needs to become medium-agnostic. Be it fiber, coax, over the air, or copper, and whether you're primarily pushing data to customers or customers are dialing out, they should all be subject to the same anti-monopoly rules.
     
  8. LutherSloan

    LutherSloan Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Yeah, I'm with you. It doesn't make sense.
     
  9. EnterpriseF

    EnterpriseF Commander Red Shirt

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    But that's the thing. U-Verse would not be using Comcast's equipment. I'm not saying AT & T are angels but I'm sure my cable bill would go down if there was competition.
     
  10. Robert Maxwell

    Robert Maxwell memelord Premium Member

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    Is AT&T not available in your area? Because, as you alluded, DSL runs off of the phone lines, and the TV comes down via satellite, so Comcast's equipment is not involved. It is competition, but it could be arguable whether it's an "apples to apples" comparison, since the technologies involved are different and their perceived differently.
     
  11. EnterpriseF

    EnterpriseF Commander Red Shirt

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    Yeah I got DSL but Comcast has blocked AT & T from giving us U-verse. This is in court right know IIRC
     
  12. Sheep

    Sheep Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Cancel or downgrade your service if they really piss you off that much. The only way to make them take note is to affect their bottom line. All the bitching in the world means exactly nothing.

    I did so after getting fed up with their cable TV prices increasing literally every 4-6 months with absolutely no enhancements that mattered to me. I dropped down to high-speed internet only with them and I've been just fine with OTA HD TV signals for my TV fix.
     
  13. Robert Maxwell

    Robert Maxwell memelord Premium Member

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    What the hell? I don't see how that's even remotely legal.
     
  14. Timby

    Timby o yea just like that Administrator

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    If Comcast is going to implode, I really, really hope it happens before the company acquires Mediacom (which is a rumor I hear more and more often). Mediacom is bad, but I'll take that over the cesspool of suck that is Comcast.
     
  15. EnterpriseF

    EnterpriseF Commander Red Shirt

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    I was actually going to try the old "I'll switch to the D*sh network" to see if they'll go down in price.
     
  16. Alidar Jarok

    Alidar Jarok Everything in moderation but moderation Moderator

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    My job has dish network. When it rains, we lose reception. Plus we don't get local sports teams.

    To be honest, as long as comcast dominates sports broadcasts, it'll do fine no matter how much it sucks.
     
  17. Harvey

    Harvey Admiral Admiral

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    Well, as an occasional Comcast customer, I wouldn't mind it if they imploded. Their cable service sucks, and their internet has always been dodgy. Then again, so was whoever provided the same service in this area before them.
     
  18. pookha

    pookha Admiral Admiral

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    i dont know.
    i just turned in my cable box today and for every person getting equpment there were three or more turning stuff in.

    around here comcast service has just been awful.
    there was a period of time it was like playing roulette whether the channel you wanted to watch would be on or not.
    and they would not prorate your bill for the time that service was messed up.
    and pretty par for the course they didnt ask why i was canceling the cable.
     
  19. JonathonWally

    JonathonWally Admiral Admiral

    Do it, I did it with Optimum, my cable provider, I mentioned Verizon's TV thing and they cut my bill by a decent amount.
     
  20. Ar-Pharazon

    Ar-Pharazon Admiral Premium Member

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    Far North Chicago Suburbs
    I have DISH network, and it takes a substantially powerful storm to interrupt the service, and then only for the amount of time it takes for the front of that storm to pass. I think as long as it's aligned as well as possible, it's going to be OK.
    Never had trouble in the winter, which we've had 2 very bad ones the last 2 years.

    I ended up getting Comcast high speed internet for $60/month, only because it's the highest speed option (8mb now). DISH had a sattelite option, but I think it was only 1.5mb (or something like that).

    If you're gonna hit a company for their ridiculous or downright stupid commercials, it's going to be a long rant.;)