By Brian Stelter, CNN
Note to Comcast and AT&T executives: you've got your work cut out for you.
Subscriber satisfaction with cable and satellite TV providers has slumped across the board, according to a new American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) survey of tens of thousands of people.
Of the eight providers studied, the worst performer is Time Warner Cable, the cable company that's merging with Comcast. The second worst is Comcast. They were in the same order last year — but this year, their scores are weaker.
Time Warner Cable has a score of 56 and Comcast has a score of 60. The industry average is 65.
The data was released in a report Tuesday, two days after AT&T announced a plan to acquire the biggest satellite provider in the country, DirecTV.
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Senator Al Franken discusses his opposition to the proposed merger between Comcast Time Warner and the influence that lobbyist money might have on the senators' scrutiny of the deal.
By Brian Stelter, CNN
The computing giant's next foray into TV could come in partnership with Comcast, the largest television and broadband provider in the United States, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday night.
The Journal said that the two companies are holding talks that could result in Comcast delivering an Apple-branded TV service the same way it delivers phone calls and cable video-on-demand. These are called "managed services," and are set apart from the broadband connections that bring Netflix (NFLX), YouTube and other websites to customers. The arrangement would allow Apple to be confident that its video offerings won't sputter the way some other streams do.
Read more of Brian's article online here.
Brian Stelter and Free Press President and CEO Craig Aaron analyze Comcast’s proposed takeover of Time Warner Cable; will it benefit or hurt consumers?
By Brian Stelter, CNN Senior Media Correspondent
Comcast on Thursday will announce its intent to acquire Time Warner Cable in a $45 billion deal that will combine the two biggest cable companies in the United States.
Comcast (CCV) has agreed to pay $158.82 per share of Time Warner Cable (TWC,Fortune 500) stock, according to two people with direct knowledge of the transaction who insisted on anonymity because the deal will not be publicly announced until Thursday morning.
The two companies expect the merger to receive government approval and take effect by the end of the year, but regulators are likely to take a close look at the potential impact on consumers.
Read more of Brian's CNNMoney piece here.
Comcast’s Sam Schwartz tells Brian Stelter about new “SEEiT” technology that allows for increased connection between Tweets and television.
By Brian Stelter, CNN
The TV industry has a holiday tradition straight out of "How The Grinch Stole Christmas:" End of year feuds that lead to channel blackouts for viewers.
But this year, everybody is playing nice. (It's almost as if the hearts of television executives have collectively grown three sizes.)
At issue are the carriage fees that distributors like Comcast and DirecTV (the biggest cable and satellite providers in the United States, respectively) have to pay to carry cable channels. They regularly have to re-negotiate fees with programmers like The Walt Disney Company, which controls ESPN and ABC Family, and Viacom, which owns MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central.
Talks tend to get heated toward the end of the year - but evidently not this year. On Tuesday, Time Warner Cable and Viacom announced a deal a full week before the Jan. 1 deadline.
A number of other high-stakes negotiations have also been completed in recent weeks. An informal survey of industry representatives indicated that last-minute blackout threats were unlikely this New Year's Eve.
Distributors and programmers tend to keep their deals a secret - for competitive reasons and to cultivate a "no drama" perception in the industry.
Read more of Brian's article online here.