Comcast favors Fox News, charges $204 more for MSNBC package. ACTION NEEDED

[Joanne98]

Reprinted from Dailykos.com by Beachwriter429
A fellow progressive alerted me today about a highly discriminatory new practice being implemented by Comcast. I told him I would post something on Kos since he is not currently active here. From what I can tell, this applies to all Comcast customers, not just those in my (quite red) area of Jacksonville, Florida.

As of 8.12.09, Comcast has moved MSNBC from its Digital Starter Package to its Digital Classic Lineup while leaving Fox News on the Starter package. What this means is that one now has to pay an additional $17 per month ($204 per year) to view anything progressive enough to even remotely balance out FNC's right wing extremism (although, let's be honest, MSNBC could install Castro himself in Tweety's time slot and still not provide sufficient balance for the far-right insanity that is Beck/Billo/Hannity).

beachwriter429's diary :: ::


So they are calling this a "channel realignment," which I guess is like the broadcasting equivalent of gerrymandering. Apparently it's done with electronic switching from the Comcast HQ. The neighbor who alerted me to the situation is an attorney, and he thinks this appears to be to be an FCC/Fairness Doctrine violation. He has suggested to our Senator, Bill Nelson, that congress should enforce a "Menu Based" or "Cafeteria Style" subscription contract on the cable industry since it costs them nothing to make the switches.

I think the most immediate concern though is pressuring Comcast to include MSNBC in this Digital Basic Package IMMEDIATELY. If you'd like to join me, here are the email addresses of some key executives:


D'Arcy Rudnay, SVP Corp Communications
[e-mail]

David Juliano, EVP Marketing
[e-mail]

Brian Roberts, CEO
[e-mail]

Stephen Burke, President, Cable
[e-mail]

David Watson, EVP Operations
[e-mail]

David Cohen, EVP
[e-mail]

Amy Banse, SVP
[e-mail]

Update #1:


Another issue I should have mentioned is the channel assignments, which are somewhat biased in and of themselves. Here in Jacksonville at least, MSNBC is relegated to channel #185 (and this was true even before the "realignment.") In contrast, Fox News is 33, CNN is 35, CSPAN is 27, even CSPAN-TWO is 105, for god's sake! So the average viewer is not going to hit on MSNBC by accident or by casually channel-surfing.

Update #2 It's been very astutely suggested that it may be equally if not more effective to contact NBC and urge them to negotiate more forcefully for placement of MSNBC within the 1st tier of programming on Comcast (and all delivery systems really). Here is a list of contacts:

[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]


articles reprinted from Dailykos.com
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Comcast-favors-Fox-News-c-by-Daily-kos-090812-139.html

[derby378]

1. If this isn't an argument to give the FCC some oversight over cable providers...

...I don't know what is. :mad:

[DCKit]

22. A VALID argument, at that.

They're terrified of the "cafeteria" option too. Even at $10/channel for the channels they watch, everyone I know could cut their cable bill in half.

[Why Syzygy]

2. Faux is probably supplementing

the cable charges as it does for public displays of its channel.

[The Wizard]

13. And my guess is the RNC

is paying cash into Fox's offshore tax haven account.

[canoeist52]

3. Yeah, I had a fruitless argument over the phone with Comcast over this.

[spiritual_gunfighter]

12. I have fruitless arguments with Comcast over the phone about just about everything

Absolutely without a doubt the most pathetic cable service, internet service I have ever had.

[quiller4]

4. I'm watching MSNBC on Comcast's cheapest package in my area

You cannot purchase a Comcast package in Washington State that does not include MSNBC.

[paulsby]

18. me 2. nt

[MineralMan]

5. Must be a regional thing. MSNBC is on Channel 70 in the Twin

Cities.

[bbinacan]

6. I don't pay

extra for MSNBC on Comcast.

[barbiegeek]

7. We have to pay $150 to MSNBC & CNN, Fox is basic cable

[Pab Sungenis]

8. There's a reason I end tweets about them with #comcastdoesntcare

They don't. They have monopolies in their regions and don't give a shit about what you think, or want, or even if their service works correctly.

[elleng]

20. Thats what monopoly does.

Its CERTAINLY an issue for FCC.

[FatDave]

9. Dish Network is no better

http://www.dishnetwork.com/packages/comparisonguide/default.aspx

Select the News/Informational radio button. Fox News is in every package. MSNBC is only in the 2 largest packages. $13/month more if you want MSNBC.

[ihavenobias]

10. Thanks for mentioning this.

My friend has satellite and no MSNBC. Interesting how right wing media dominates radio and TV yet there is "liberal bias".

Amazing that anyone could confuse the watered down, corporate, ratings-driven infotainment of CNN and the likes as "liberal". Not to mention the local or nightly news that most people watch.

[FatDave]

11. Facts do not matter when you have volume.

There never was a liberal media, but by screaming about the liberal media for 30 years, they've managed to frighten all news organizations into never speaking ill of conservatives. By simply screaming "liberal media, liberal media" they have created a media that strongly favors them. It's all a perceptions game, and they kick our ass at it.

[Wednesdays]

14. K&R

:kick:

[jimmyzvoice]

15. Comcast made a similar move in Sarasota, Florida on 7/1/09

On that day they removed MSNBC from the basic lineup on channel 42 and moved it up to channel 185. Channel 42 is tunable without a cable box but 185 requires a cable box for each TV in your home. Fox News and CNN remain on the lower channels, not requiring a cable box.

When I called Comcast to complain, they offered to give me one free cable box so I went there the next day to pick mine up. There I met other disgruntled MSNBC viewers who were there for the same reason. Many complained about having to pay for any additional cable boxes. The cable box I received was able to tune only half of the stations I could tune before, tho it did tune some of the higher stations including MSNBC. Fortunately I have two antenna inputs on my TV. But now I have to switch between inputs to get MSNBC along with my other favorite stations back on the basic tier (which includes the local network stations).

The bottom line is that Comcast does not care and is actively acting to censor MSNBC from its viewers. I suggest we pressure NBC to force Comcast to move MSNBC back to its basic tier along with Fox News and CNN.

One more suggestion: Could we get NBC to offer MSNBC on one of the digital substations on all of their NBC broadcast affiliates?

[Thinman1946]

16. Comcast and MSNBC

Here in Memphis Comcast stripped MSNBC from its basic analog lineup. They left Fox News in place. I'm enraged as are thousands of Memphians, a largely Democrat town filled with poor people who can only afford basic cable. For one thing, I don't want another remote on my coffee table, required by the digital "box." Upon reflection, it could be that Comcast simply wants to coerce us onto the digital platform so they can sell us pay-for-view, movies on demand, and DVR's. In Memphis, they know that most Republicans are already on the digital platform, so this is a slick way to force Democrats to go digital. However, this analysis doesn't hold water in other cities where Comcast is forcing people to go to more expensive digital packages from the basic digital package in order to retain MSNBC. Here, their move seems more political. I guess we must keep in mind that Comcast is a predatory profit making corporation. Its mission is to make as much profit as possible by doing anything they can get away with, just shy of the CEO going to prison. And of course the counter-balancing progressive views of MSNBC are not favored by any such corporation. In any event, this coercion to the digital platform is interesting in view of the thousands of commercials that Comcast broadcast just prior to the analog to digital switch in broadcasting over the airwaves, telling us that as long as we were connected to Comcast, our analog sets would be just hunky-dory. A month later they're stripping analog channels out of the lineup. One fact that seems incontrovertible is that the management of Comcast are...liars.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

17. MSNBC is on basic cable in Minneapolis.

These "channel realignments" must vary in different areas.

[paulsby]

19. lol on your attorney friend

:The neighbor who alerted me to the situation is an attorney, and he thinks this appears to be to be an FCC/Fairness Doctrine violation"

we don't HAVE a the Fairness Doctrine (any more), so how can it possibly be a violation of a non-existent law?

[elleng]

21. I'm moving shortly,

and am trying to figure out what I CAN have and for how much. Not comcast, but may be related. Antietam. Yes, that battle!

These guys have CLEARLY gone out of their way to make this stuff hard to understand! Dislike them ALREADY!!! Who exactly enabled these monopolies???

edit: AMAZING! Just learned 'expanded basic' includes msnbc and cspan 1 and 2, for a mere 34.50/mo! Pleased with the channels, not so much with the $.