Monthly Archive for October, 2006

Please See 12/01 Update With More Info

I may have been a little harsh on Mediacom in my last post on this subject. But, that’s what Mediacom deserves when they bring unwarranted lawsuits against other companies and tell their customers they’ll no longer be able to get a channel they’ve lived with for years. Mediacom could have handled the situation more professionally. Instead of suing Sinclair and telling customers they’ll no longer be able to watch Fox 17, they could have simply said negotiations will continue until a suitable deal can be struck, but they didn’t. The way Mediacom handled this angered many, many customers. I spoke with at least six Mediacom cable television customers this weekend that were pretty upset at the situation. Two of them sided with Mediacom, saying they were just trying to keep prices low. I wouldn’t mind one more price increase this year if it means we get to keep KDSM Fox 17. We’ve already seen two or three price increases this year.

Mediacom has been running commercials here in central Iowa explaining the situation and letting customers know that they’re still in negotiations with Sinclair. Their commercial makes it sound like they really are trying to keep Fox 17 around for their central Iowa customers. And I believe Mediacom is trying their hardest to keep KDSM Fox 17 in their customers line-up.

Bottom line is this, Sinclair is asking Mediacom for too much money to carry KDSM Fox 17. Mediacom wasn’t happy with Sinclair’s price so after getting nowhere in negotiations, they sue. It’s hard to say whether those of us in central Iowa will be able to watch Fox 17 on Mediacom after December 1st. If we can, good. If we can’t, Mediacom will probably end up losing a great deal of subscribers in this area.

Sorry for coming down on you so hard Mediacom, but you rarely give me anything to be happy about. It’s almost always bad news when Mediacom is involved.

UPDATE: KDSM Fox 17 has updated their website with a statement from their gerenal manager. The man makes some very good points, some of the very same points I’ve made. In addition to that statement from GM Mike Wilson, there’s also a FAQ on the dispute. Please see below for the full text from the GM statement and the FAQ.
Continue reading ‘More On Mediacom Vs. Sinclair’

Please See 12/01 Update With More Info

Mediacom, my cable internet and TV provider, is in a legal battle with Sinclair Broadcasting, the owner of my local Fox affiliate, KDSM Fox 17. The two companies have been in negotiations for the last year over the price Mediacom pays for the right to offer Fox 17 to it’s customers.

Now, the dumbass people in charge at Mediacom have decided to file an anti-trust lawsuit against Sinclair Broadcasting. Mediacom claims they’re simply watching out for the best interests of their customers. I call bullshit. Mediacom should know their customers won’t be happy at all if they drop Fox 17. I mean, they continue raising their cable prices anyway, why not just pass the cost of broadcasting Fox 17 on to the customer like they do for everything else? I for one would be willing to pay a little extra for keeping Fox 17 around. Mediacom simply doesn’t care, although they’ll care when their subscriber numbers in central Iowa tank.

From my past experiences, there’s only 1, high-level employee at Mediacom who gives a rats ass about his customers, I will not give his name. Were it not for him, I probably wouldn’t have internet service in my current apartment, and I know he’s helped a number of people I converse with also.

Basically, Mediacom is telling Sinclair that they’ll simply refuse to broadcast Fox 17. And Sinclair doesn’t seem to care, no matter how badly their ratings suffer. Now, Sinclair is probably asking for way too much money from Mediacom, so it’s understandable that they would negotiate for a while. But dropping Fox 17 all together shouldn’t even be an option for Mediacom. I just think Mediacom made a horrible decision, they need to think these things through. So, in the near future, no more Fox 17, cable channel 6, for Mediacom cable subscribers in the Des Moines metro area.

Anyway, Mediacom is going to suffer big time here in central Iowa because of this. Fox 17 has been scrolling a banner across the bottom of the TV today saying their service will likely be shut off by Mediacom on December 1st, 2006. Fox 17 is also urging viewers to call DirecTV, the satellite television provider. It’s either get satellite TV, watch Fox 17 with bunny ears, or don’t watch at all. Not watching isn’t an option for a number of reasons, mainly, Family Guy, American Dad, King Of The Hill, and The Simpsons.

So, I will be calling DirecTV tomorrow to schedule an installation. Mediacom can suck a nut, how the fuck can they alienate their customers like this? If anyone should be brought up on anti-trust charges, it’s Mediacom. Does half of central Iowa have any other option for cable services besides Mediacom? No.

Before it disappears, here’s the small little article about the situation from KDSM Fox 17:

Mediacom and Fox 17′s Parent Company in Legal Battle
As soon as December 1st, Mediacom customers may have to switch to antenna or satellite to watch Fox 17. KDSM’s parent company Sinclair Broadcasting says its been in negotiations with Mediacom for the past year to settle on a fair price for the cable company to carry Fox 17. Now Mediacom has filed an anti-trust lawsuit saying they are looking out for the best interest of their customers and don’t want to disrupt service. Both companies say they won’t back down, and Sinclair says it is willing to be turned off of the cable signal even if it will lose viewers, who will have other options, like satellite and antenna.