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Dear FReepers, I live outside Chicago. My current provider for bundled Cable, Internet and home based landline costs 179 dollars a month. I have the large selection of cable stations including History, Military etc, without any premium channels. or DVR. I'm coming to you my friends to see what suggestions, or ingenious Freepers have come up with to obtain service; I'd like a large number of Cable stations plus a DVR. My son insists upon Internet fast enough to play video games inter-actively online. We need wireless internet for our laptops. I would like a DVR machine with any new...

Because I know that FReepers are smart and ingenious I am coming to you for assistance and insight in being able to get unplugged from DirecTV. They are raising our rates again. We currently use Netflix, but are also considering adding HuluPlus. Hubby streams from his PS3 in his game room, and in the living room we stream via BlueRay. Hubby and I are trying to get details on unplugging without losing our ability to watch our favorite (cable) show. I've read numerous articles how people are doing this same thing but have not found a step-by-step instruction in what...

NEW YORK (AP) — Cable companies said Wednesday that they will offer Internet service for $9.95 per month to homes with children that are eligible for free school lunches. The offer will start next summer and is part of an initiative the Federal Communications Commission cobbled together to get more U.S. homes connected to broadband. One third, or about 35 million homes, don't have broadband. That affects people's ability to educate themselves and find and apply for jobs, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said.

High quality global journalism requires investment. Cablevision, the cable operator servicing New York and the north-east US, reported a loss of pay-television customers but a gain in high-speed internet customers, mirroring Thursday’s results from competitor Time Warner Cable. Revenues were up 8 per cent from a year earlier at $1.67bn, but organic growth was nearly flat. Revenues from pay-television services were up despite a loss in subscribers in the past three months. Cablevision added new internet customers, generating revenues from the segment with the addition of a new broadband operator. “Broadband results, increasingly the cornerstone service for all cable operators,...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 21, 2011 – In his signature baseball cap and wearing a shirt with the sleeves cut off, the comedian known as Larry the Cable Guy gave a shout-out to the troops today while on location at the Pentagon to shoot an upcoming segment of his History Channel show, “Only in America.” Comedian Daniel Lawrence Whitney -- known as Larry the Cable Guy -- steps up to the podium in the press briefing room during a Pentagon tour for an upcoming segment of his History Channel show, “Only in America,” Oct. 21, 2011. DOD photo by Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo  (Click...

-The Internet has risen to its all-time high as a primary source of news for Americans with 43 percent now saying they get most of their news on national and international issues from the web, according to a survey published Thursday by the Pew Research Center for The People & The Press.Meanwhile, television sits at an all-time low as a primary source of news for Americans with only 66 percent now saying they get most of their national and international news from TV--a nadir television also hit in December 2010. Since 1991, Pew has periodically asked Americans: “How do you...

Anyone experiencing outage on their Dish Network?

Right now, I have Verizon's DSL and Landline phone service. I have Comcast cable which alone is costing me over $90.00 a month! Verizon has a special (no contracts) for Fios which will include .. internet, phone and Television for $79.00 a month for one year! I have been without my cable for over a week now (comcast) due to Irene. My neighbors, who have Fios never lost their TV or internet. (I didn't lose my Verizon dsl or phone connection either.) I'm thinking of going to fios but not sure of the complications .. Inside of the house? Will...

Premium cable network Starz Entertainment will end its deal to provide movies to Netflix, a surprise decision that will deprive the popular online video service of its most valuable source of recently released movies. Analysts had said that if Starz were to renew its agreement, which expires in February 2012, it could have been worth as much as $300 million to John Malone's Liberty Media-owned network. However, executives at Starz apparently concluded that they would lose even more money by giving consumers a reason to subscribe to Netflix instead of the cable channel. "This decision is a result of our...

It’s no surprise that the use of DVRs is increasing as more and more people become used to time-shifting instead of watching television on the networks’ schedule. DVRs are compared to competitors so that customers can find the best fit for their lives. Now the New York Times is reporting something that may surprise many people: Your set-top boxes consume more energy in a year than your refrigerator. Initially you might assume that the main culprit is the hard drive spinning in the device, but according to the article, it only accounts for an additional 104 kilowatt-hours a year;...

Cable TV distribution continues to lose customers in the top 15 markets, with telco companies sharply rising and satellite TV companies seeing little change. There was a 3.8% decline in the first quarter of 2011 versus the same period in 2010 in the top 15 markets, slipping to 23.2 million customers, per SNL Kagan. New York City, the biggest TV market, dropped 3.4%; Los Angeles, at No. 2, sank 4%; and Chicago, the third-largest market, slipped 5.1%. The biggest declines in major markets were in Atlanta (eighth-biggest), losing 8%; Dallas (fifth place) gave up 7.7%. Seattle (13th place) lost the...

Ok, So we've got Time Warner Cable, no pay channels, and Road Runner High speed Internet. I'm sick of paying $140 a month!!! What are some good alternatives people are using? We need high speed Internet for business purposes. As for the TV, we like Fox News, ESPN, local channels, Disney, Nickolodean, A&E, HG, History, Discover, and YES. (Yankees). Does any such system exist at a more reasonable price? That you can use a DVR or like devise? I'm willing to entertain "just stream from a computer" or whatever it is as long as it's reasonably user friendly and the...

Keith Olbermann hints at Anthony Weiner talk show on Al Gore's networkBy Corbett B. Daly June 17, 2011 6:14 PM That was fast. Within hours after Anthony Weiner announced his resignation from Congress, former MSNBC gabber Keith Olbermann suggested he may hire the soon-to-be-former New York lawmaker for a talk show on former Vice President Al Gore's fledgling television network, Current TV. Olbermann, appearing on comedian Jimmy Fallon's late night television program Thursday night, was asked how long he thinks it would be before rival network CNN created a show for Weiner. "Well, you know, I've got a nine o'clock...

Ask Netflix about cord cutting, and it’ll tell you: “It’s not happening, it’s not anything we are causing, cable and Netflix are complementary.” Then take a look at the actions of service operators, cable networks, consumers and even Netflix itself, and you’re going to see a decidedly different picture: Cable and Netflix are competing for the same eyeballs, the same money and the same TV real estate, and the fight is getting tougher by the day. Not convinced yet? Then consider this evidence: Consumers are ready to jump ship. Netflix users that stream the company’s videos to connected devices are...

Take a look at this video of Olbermann waddling around Yankee Stadium over the weekend. What is he wearing?! Is that a duster or a lab coat or maybe a butcher's smock?When is the last time you saw one of those - other than the bad guys in Pale Rider? And what does he have underneath that ridiculous jacket? Did he steal 25 sweatshirts from the Yankee store and is trying to smuggle them out?

The weak economy is at least partially responsible for an ongoing video subscriber slide at Cablevision Systems (NYSE: CVC), COO Tom Rutledge said during an earnings conference call, adding that the MSO is still reeling after a retransmission dispute with News Corp.'s (Nasdaq: NWSA) Fox Networks that resulted in a blackout during last year's Major League Baseball playoffs. "Cablevision core system ... lost about 8400 video customers. Some of that was attributable to how we came into the year after the dispute that we had with News Corp. and the carriage and the World Series (but) we still continue to...

I gave up cable TV a few days ago. I watched perhaps five or six channels, at most, and it just wasn't worth the money. Now, I have no TV at all since my set is pre-digital and I don't have an antenna. What now? Do I have to get a special antenna? I would like to have at least broadcast TV if only for sports.

Ratings for Fox News are in the doldrums, down 21% in primetime so far this year. But don't cry for the right-leaning network -- it's been number one on cable for nine years now, and it still has the top 12 shows. According to a report from Business Insider, Bill O'Reilly remains in the top spot, but he lost 14% of his audience from the same three-month period last year. Sean Hannity places second, down 19%. Bret Baier (whoever he is) is third, beating out Glenn Beck, who has lost a whopping 30% of his audience. CNN and MSNBC have been the beneficiaries of...

As the crisis in Egypt continues to escalate, The Huffington Post has spearheaded a campaign to pressure American cable companies into carrying Al Jazeera English. On Monday, they provided a forum for the Qatari government-owned network's director general, Wadah Khanfar, to make his case to an American audience. Khanfar begins his appeal by highlighting the importance of the events taking place in Egypt, events which HuffPo insists are to Al Jazeera "what the Gulf War was to CNN." He then points to Egyptian censorship of Al Jazeera in a bid to gain sympathy and portray his organization as a hard...

We cut the cord after our local cable provider, Time-Warner, raised our rates to over $90 a month for our cable television service alone. We have one HDTV and were subscribed to the basic cable service, with a digital box. We also subscribed to what they called their "Variety" tier, which included A & E, BBC America, Discovery Channel and the other basic cable channels. We did not get HBO or any premium channels and there were many other basic channels not even included in their Variety tier. In addition, we were charged $10 a month for the rental of...

Thanks to Instapundit for pointing out this great piece of video from Reason TV. Grab the popcorn my little “mobstas” and settle around the computer screen for a permanent record of the non stop stupidity of the lefty pundits. Of course now the lefty pundits act as if they never went after the Tea Party, or Sarah Palin. The narrative now is Sarah Palin may not have caused this … but she should apologize anyway … and then shut up … “jackass”.

Immediately following last week's tragic events in Tucson, television pundits fell over each another to assign blame. According to the professional talking heads--and despite any actual evidence--the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords could be pinned on the Tea Party, Ayn Rand, gold enthusiasts, Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, heavy metal, marijuana, and/or the "heated rhetoric" of cable news. Reason.tv trawls the archives and compiles the dumbest responses from America's dumbest pundits.

Well the onslaught of Piers Morgan publicity is ratcheting up, evidenced by the steady flow on online clips (which are exceptionally well produced we might add.) The latest features Morgan sharing with his staff plans to avoid predictably partisan takes in his future show and coverage. He also notably both lauds and takes a shot at Jon Stewart for ‘jumping the shark’ at the end of his rally. From CNN: “I don’t want to be too nicey-nicey,” said Piers. But: “I’m not going to be partisan. Although I have lots of opinions which I will share with you in the...

Cable news ratings, November 17, 2010: •On the ratings chart for Wednesday, CNN’s column may be stressful reading for execs at the Time Warner Center: Wolf Blitzer, John King, and Parker Spitzer all got nowhere near breaking a threshold considered critical: at least 100,000 viewers 25-54. •Over at HLN, a standout Wednesday was the solid showing for the 11 p.m. Showbiz, which placed second with 150,000 viewers 25-54, beating AC 360 and Countdown. Here’s the full scoreboard:

The number of people subscribing to US cable television services has suffered its biggest decline in 30 years as younger, tech-savvy viewers lead an exodus to web-based operations, such as Hulu and Netflix...cable operators were hard hit, with subscriber numbers falling by 741,000 – the largest decline in 30 years. The figures suggest that “cord-cutting” – one of the pay-television industry’s biggest fears – is becoming a reality as viewers drift to web-based platforms.

U.S. cable TV operators lost 741,000 basic video customers in the third quarter, research firm SNL Kagan reported Wednesday. That’s the single largest quarterly drop for cable since SNL Kagan began compiling data for the segment in 1980. Cable’s share of the multichannel pay television market continues to slide, dipping to 60.3% from 62.9% in Q3 2009. Gains in telecom and satellite TV services were not enough to offset the loss of cable subscribers, so the overall multichannel pay-TV market lost 119,000 customers last quarter.

If you read JedEckert.com, you know that our sources inside NBC have been very good at providing context and background to the always entertaining Keith Olbermann saga. And this latest news makes perfect sense as we observe the overall narrative of the self-absorbed, self-destructive, troubled TV personality.Here's what we've been told: The stand-off between Keith and MSNBC execs lasted much longer than anyone on the outside knew. As of 7:30pm on Tuesday night, bitter recriminations were still flying back and forth. Keith was still demanding that the network apologize to him before he would take the anchor chair.MSNBC, on the...

New ratings tell story of average daily viewers FOXNEWS O'REILLY 3,734,000 FOXNEWS HANNITY 2,720,000 FOXNEWS GRETA 2,296,000< FOXNEWS BAIER 2,284,000 FOXNEWS SHEP 2,244,000 FOXNEWS BECK 2,154,000 MSNBC OLBERMANN 1,190,000 MSNBC MADDOW 1,087,000 MSNBC O'DONNELL 1,048,000 MSNBC SCHULTZ 724,000 CNNHN GRACE 670,000 MSNBC HARDBALL 628,000 CNN COOPER 591,000 CNN KING 560,000 CNNHN BEHAR 339,000

<p>Cable companies have been losing TV subscribers at an ever faster rate in the past few months, and satellite TV isn't picking up the slack.</p> <p>That could be a sign that Internet TV services such as Netflix and Hulu are finally starting to entice people to cancel cable, though company executives are pointing to the weak economy and housing market for now.</p>

Jonathan Klein, president of CNN's US network, leaves his post today after a sudden announcement that he has been replaced by Ken Jautz, the head of CNN's downmarket but more popular sister channel HLN. Klein's departure comes after a disastrous year for CNN, as its daily ratings slumped by 36% to an average of 640,000 weekday viewers, putting it in third place behind Fox News and MSNBC among cable news channels. Fox News averages 2.4m viewers while MSNBC has nearly 850,000. HLN averages around 550,000 on weekdays.

It’s been rumored for months and now it’s official: Piers Morgan is taking over Larry King’s 9pmET CNN slot, beginning in January. The first report of this came from an unlikely source: Ali Velshi’s Twitter. Velshi tweeted: Piers Morgan to take over 9pET slot on CNN starting Jan

Is it just me, or were there some capital “A” for "Awkward" moments on last night’s ”Mad Men”? SCDP found itself vying for a lucrative Honda contract with competing firm Cutler Gleason Chaough. CGC poached the Clearasil and Jai Alai accounts from SCDP and agency partner Ted Chaough was a particular thorn in Don’s side, so it was important that our boys at SCDP won the account. -snip- Now, let’s all grab our blankies, go to our respective happy places and talk about Sally Draper for a minute. What else can you really say about last night other than, “poor...

The number of subscribers to cable, satellite and telecom TV services in the U.S. fell for the first time ever in the second quarter, according to research firm SNL Kagan. The U.S. multichannel TV market lost 216,000 customers last quarter, vs. a gain of 378,000 a year ago. The total number of subscribers to cable, satellite and telecom video fell to 100.1 million in the second quarter, SNL Kagan says.

'Oprah' Ratings Continue to PlummetTalker hits series low for third time in five weeks By Paige Albiniak -- Broadcasting & Cable 7/27/2010 2:13:33 PM Oprah is having one tough summer. In the week ending July 18, CBS Television Distribution's The Oprah Winfrey Show sunk to an all-time ratings low for the third time in five weeks, dropping 13% from the prior week to a 2.8 live plus same day household average, according to Nielsen Media Research. That almost moved Oprah out of syndie's top-ten, tying for overall ninth place with CTD's Inside Edition and reruns of the off-net hour CSI:...

Live + Same Day Cable News Daily Ratings for July 15, 2010 P2+ Total Day FNC – 1,193,000 viewers CNN – 436,000 viewers MSNBC – 367,000 viewers CNBC – 163,000 viewers HLN – 287,000 viewers P2+ Prime Time FNC – 2,434,000 viewers CNN – 631,000 viewers MSNBC –865,000 viewers CNBC – 235,000 viewers HLN – 564,000 viewers 25-54 Total Day FNC –37,000 viewers CNN –135,000 viewers MSNBC –118,000 viewers CNBC – a scratch w/49,000 viewers HLN – 21,000 viewers 25-54 Prime Time FNC – 568,000 viewers CNN – 166,000 viewers MSNBC –284,000 viewers CNBC – 111,000 viewers HLN – 199,000...

Larry King's leaving is not the only problem at CNN. The cable news network is plagued by high-profile departures, low ratings and - TheWrap has learned - widespread resentment among producers and anchors. The succession war set off by King leaving is only likely to heighten the tension even further. Speaking on background, one CNN on-air personality told TheWrap that most of the anchors were jealous that Anderson Cooper sucked up resources by going to Haiti and the Gulf of Mexico, leaving them unable to build their profiles at the network. Meanwhile, multiple insiders at CNN have told TheWrap that...

The noise of Comcast’s late-night electrical work in her neighborhood led a Montara woman to try a little intimidation. San Mateo County Sheriff’s deputies received calls that the woman on the 300 block of Fourth Street was brandishing a rifle and using it to threaten a utility worker. When deputies arrived at the woman’s home, they realized the woman’s rifle was actually a BB gun. But that didn’t stop the woman from firing pellets at the Comcast truck. She told the officers that the cable work was irritating and was preventing her from sleeping. The Comcast employee wanted to press...

Anchors aren't known for admitting their shortcomings but Campbell Brown is accepting defeat. The eponymous host of CNN's "Campbell Brown" has stepped down from the "toughest timeslot in cable news" due to low ratings. "Simply put, the ratings for my program are not where I would like them to be," Brown said in a statement released Tuesday. "It is largely for this reason that I am stepping down as anchor of CNN’s 'Campbell Brown.’ " Brown added that she had been ruminating over the move "for some time" and that she felt the urge to reveal the truth behind her...

Hey media writers and TV critics – remember when you had all those ideas about how to help CNN’s lagging prime time ratings? Well, put on those executive hats again because it’s time to help MSNBC. The network’s 9am-5pmET (dayside ratings) is headed for its worst year since 1999, with even less viewers in May. The MSNBC ratings comparison is based on the A25-54 demographic, and so far in 2010 the network is averaging 73,000 from 9am-5pmET. In the first two weeks of May, that average falls to 68,000. It takes going back to 1999 (less than three years after...

LONDON (AP) -- A TV communications satellite is drifting out of control thousands of miles above the Earth, threatening to wander into another satellite's orbit and interfere with cable programming across the United States, the satellites' owners said Tuesday. Communications company Intelsat said it lost control of the Galaxy 15 satellite on April 8....

This year’s annual State of the News Media, put together by Pew, is a comprehensive look at the entire media world. But let’s take a look at the cable news section – and the all-important race between Fox News, CNN and MSNBC. • It is clear CNN declined not only in viewership (as evidenced by the chart below as well) but also in the comprehensive way it covers the news: In one key demographic — 25-to-54-year olds — CNN fell behind a more ideological MNSBC in prime time audience, a prospect unthinkable even two years earlier. For the first time...

Love grousing about cable TV? Then I’ve got a list for you. It comes from industry analyst SNL Kagan, and I came across it via a research note Barclays Capital’s Anthony DiClemente sent out last week. DiClemente was arguing that the bundled approach to cable TV–whereby subscribers get dozens or even hundreds of channels for one big fee, no matter how many networks they actually watch–wasn’t going anywhere for quite some time. If ever

3.1M without cable for Oscar nightUpdated: Sunday, 07 Mar 2010, 1:01 PM EST NEW YORK (AP) - Millions of cable subscribers faced the prospect of Oscar night without the Academy Awards broadcast Sunday after ABC's parent company switched off its signal to Cablevision customers and the two companies blasted each other for failing to reach a deal in a dispute over fees. In dueling statements dispatched early Sunday, the two companies traded blame for the stalemate ahead of one of the most-watched nights of television. "Cablevision has once again betrayed its subscribers," said Charissa Gilmore, a spokeswoman for the Walt...

- Big Hollywood - http://bighollywood.breitbart.com - Smut TV: Hollywood Doubles Down On Their Crusade to Sexualize Your Children Posted By Charlie Richards On February 3, 2010 A USA Today story informs us “Viewers are about to see full-frontal male nudity, heterosexual, homosexual and group sex, and graphic scenes rarely — if ever — seen on mainstream TV.” A few years back, I got a real taste for how silly Hollywood’s obsession with force feeding America a steady diet of filth had become. I sat across from a Fox Family exec, pitching programs for kids. I’d been in this chair many...

Earlier this week, CNN came under scrutiny by media watchbirds for participating in the epic story that is the aftermath of last week's devastating Haiti earthquake. After Anderson Cooper saved a child on-camera, and Dr. Sanjay Gupta put his medical skills to use operating on a girl whose life was in danger, critics like Poynter's Bob Steele accused them of "muddling the journalistic reporting." Mediaite wondered whether they had become, rather than reported, the story. But in truth, this is what Cooper and CNN do best. Their network leaders have made a conscious decision not to inject opinion into their...

Happy New Year, Fox fans! Execs from News Corp. and Time Warner Cable worked out a 13th-hour deal to keep Fox channels on the cable powerhouse -- ensuring that football and "Simpsons" fans can continue to get their fix. The agreement in principle was announced 19 hours after a deadline that threatened to leave millions of Time Warner customers without several Fox channels. "We're pleased that, after months of negotiations, we were able to reach a fair agreement with Time Warner Cable, one that rec ognizes the value of our programming," said Chase Carey, president of News Corp.

Fox, Time Warner: A Deal Is Done ShareThis EMAIL PRINT vote nowBuzz up! By Josef Adalian Published: January 01, 2010 Peace is at hand in the standoff between Time Warner Cable and Fox, with both sides announcing a new carriage deal after marathon negotiations that streched into the New Year. No word yet on how close Time Warner came to meeting Fox's $1 per subscriber request. Here's the release just issued by both companies: The Fox Networks Group and Time Warner Cable announced today that they have agreed in principle to a comprehensive distribution agreement to provide more than 13...

The impasse between FOX broadcast network and Time Warner Cable continues with less than a day remaining before the cable provider knocks the network and its cable outlets off the dial. And as each side ratchets up the rhetoric, neither seem willing to show compromise. Could Fox really be gone from homes with Time Warner Cable tomorrow? The Wall Street Journal explains where things are at right now: The crux of tensions is a $1 monthly fee News Corp is seeking for local Fox TV stations it owns from each Time Warner Cable TV household. While several owners of broadcast...

The News Corporation said on Wednesday that it looked doubtful that it would sign a new distribution contract with Time Warner Cable by Thursday night, increasing the likelihood that its Fox stations will be removed from cable lineups in millions of homes. The News Corporation’s president, Chase Carey, declined an offer by Time Warner Cable to enter binding arbitration. The companies are fighting over how much the cable operator should pay Fox stations for the right to retransmit their shows, sporting events and local newscasts. Fox is demanding about a dollar for each cable subscriber each month, which analysts say...