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Time Warner moves National Geographic Channel
If you settled down to watch “The Dog Whisperer” on the National Geographic Channel recently, you may have been surprised — and miffed — to find a blank screen.
That’s because Time Warner Cable bumped National Geographic Channel off its standard analog service and moved it up to digital-only service. You want “The Dog Whisperer?” You’ve got to get digital cable. Period.
This channel jiggle has not set well with a number of cable subscribers.
“Why did you take the best TV channel off the air in Austin?” wrote one not-so-happy viewer. “I am so disappointed and can’t really afford to upgrade to digital right now. Please put it back on the air and tell me why you did this.”
Time-Warner spokesman Roger Heaney responds:
“By moving the network (NGC), it has allowed us to maintain competitive pricing for our standard packaging. Moving this channel is not because we want to ‘up’ people to digital, although we believe that by paying a little more for digital they’re getting so much more in terms of programming and services.”
Hogwash, says Russell A. Howard, vice president of communications for NGC. By moving NGC from standard service to digital channel 232, the channel plummeted from 260,000 local subscribers to 110,000 subscribers.
“Time Warner Cable used to deliver NGC to nearly every home in Austin as part of its basic service, but recently decided to move NGC to digital so that almost 60 percent of the homes in Austin that previously received NGC no longer do. We have been getting e-mails from viewers in Austin who are upset and confused as to why this happened.
“Many people have asked us to put the network back where it was; others asked whose decision it was to move in the first place. Some e-mails even stated that Time Warner informed them that we requested the move, which is blatantly untrue. In fact, we strenuously objected.
“And, just for the record, we have not increased our costs to Time Warner. We would like to set the record straight and clear up any confusion. It was entirely Time Warner’s decision to move NGC to their digital service. It’s a completely reversible decision, and we hope they will reconsider and once again make the National Geographic Channel widely available to the people of Austin.”
The chance of Time Warner reversing its decision is slim to none. The company has been trying to ooch more and more of its customer base away from analog and up to digital. I won’t be a bit surprised to see other channels shifting to the digital tier in the future.
Analog subscribers, who remain the majority of Time Warner’s subscribers in Central Texas, are further irritated by the blank screen on Cable Channel 51, where NGC used to be. The cable company’s spokesman says there are no “immediate plans” to replace NGC on Channel 51 with something else.
“I would like to voice my strongest displeasure to you for this move,” wrote another angry e-mailer. “The channel (NGC) was probably my favorite channel to watch, so I really would like to know who to be mad at.”
Well, that would be Time Warner and the entire cable industry, which is determined to push all of us, whether we want to go or not, into a digital-only world … which, of course, costs more than the old world. It’s called “progress,” folks, and we can’t avoid it.
By the way, the customer e-mails repeated in this blog were provided by NGC, not Time Warner. The newspaper also has received phone calls and written questions about the move.
Permalink | Comments (10) | Categories: TV Technology
Comments
By Debbie
May 24, 2006 10:34 AM | Link to this
I have no intention of going digital with Time Warner. I have 4 analog TV's and do not wish to have have converters, etc. to get a signal.
Isn't it interesting that Time Warner kept this a secret. I kept wondering where NGC was. No crawl on the bottom of the screen, etc. to inform the paying customers of this change. I'm NOT getting digital cable.
By Rowdydog
May 18, 2006 05:52 PM | Link to this
I dropped Time Warner years ago in favor of DirecTV. I was having so many problems with signal quality on their Digital Package as well as Road Runner. DirecTV has been pretty much problem free for the last 6 years. Granted they have a similar system where you have to pay a little extra for some additional channels, but usually they are channels that provide a variety of shows you can watch and enjoy.
I used their two-way satellite internet for about 5 years and it was pretty good. I would reccommed using DSL instead as it is faster and you have less packets drop. Generally, you can get a good deal with ATT/Yahoo! for DSL.
By Soco Resident
May 18, 2006 10:16 AM | Link to this
About a year ago I fired Southwestern Bell. As a monopoly they treated their customers however they wanted. Even now when they have true competition, they still treat their customers in the same foul manner. It’s the same for Time Warner. I look forward to the day when all of Time Warner becomes as unnecessary as AOL.
For those of you who are holding on to Time Warner for the internet, consider making a deal with your neighbor. A cheap($30) wireless router and a little bit of reading goes a long way. I bought a nice setup($150) and began broadcasting a free WiFi connection from the top of a hill in south Austin. In place of my routers default login screen I put up a page that asks the user not to use it for pornography or illegal file transfers. While this probably violates my “terms of service� with my internet provider, I could care less. They have been violating me for years and never informed me of any changes in our agreement that they decided to unilaterally impose. The real worrisome issue is that Time Warner and AT&T/SBC are trying to make what I am doing ILLEGAL. I have no doubt they can find enough money to purchase such a law.
By Nita
May 17, 2006 08:11 PM | Link to this
Time Warner has totally screwed up standard cable tv. They keep moving great shows such as NGC. I is bad enough we have 7 0r 8 Local Access Programs who in the heck needs that many Access Programs, TW is filling the slots they are moving with programs like Access Programing. Who give a flying flip about these. NGC, Disney, and a few more, moved to digital, WHY? I refuse to get digital cable, I had it once before and had nothing but problems. Like Susan, I WILL NOT go back to digital, but that is Time Warners plan, to screw basic views and force them to digital. And like Mark J. says "Satellite service is looking more attractive every day".
By Aduren
May 17, 2006 12:17 AM | Link to this
Time warner has pissed me of. we pay for high speed, we pay for standard cable, we are college students that pay 98 a month for services that should be 60$ (as soon as dish comes up with internet i am moving) and this move is so stupid. Time warner you ar ein my axis of evil.
By Hal
May 15, 2006 08:38 AM | Link to this
Actually, I hadn't noticed it missing yet. But I do recall a number of T-W on-air ads over the last several months for the network "available on channel 51." Hmmm...does the term "bait and switch" ring a bell?
By Herbie
May 13, 2006 05:15 PM | Link to this
I disagree with Dianne. Progress does NOT have to cost more. Remember when a good 25 inch TV cost $600 dollars?
The truth of the mayyer, time/warner has always been a greedy monopoly.
By MarkJ
May 11, 2006 06:25 PM | Link to this
Twenty years of 'death by a thousand cuts'. Pretty soon the only analog channels will be QVC, HSN, and Public Access. It's time for the cable monopoly to end.
Satellite service is looking more attractive every day.
By rgross
May 11, 2006 05:39 PM | Link to this
I was surprised recently to learn that I had to have Digital level service in order to have HBO. I watch about six hours of TV in an average week (four of them on HBO), so paying even ten bucks extra for all those channels I'll never watch is just a waste of money to me. I suspect that these kinds of business practices are going to make new cable providers (i.e., ATT) very appealing to Time Warner customers as they move into this market.
By SUSAN
May 11, 2006 05:07 PM | Link to this
I am really unhappy about what Time Warner did to the National Geography Channel; it was one of our favorite channels and the family enjoyed learning so much from it when it featured many subjects such as weather events, and animals, historical events, etc..
I absolutely will not change from analog to digital cable because I used to subscribe to digital cable before and I was not pleased with it at times. After nearly one year and half,
I was fed up with its quality and returned the cable box to Time Warner and I said I wanted standard cable back. Digital movies were always pausing and breaking up in bits and I especially hated that for my videotapes when I taped Tv shows or movies to watch at a later time. I don't like to pay more for many other channels I never watch such as the sport pack nor the musicial pack so I'm not letting Time Warner force me to switch back to digital again.
Get NGC back to analog for tha sake of family time!