Time Warner Cable Boycotting Epix Movie Channel Because It Did A Deal With Netflix

from the how-petty-can-you-get dept

Fri, Sep 17th 2010 3:05pm — Mike Masnick

Apparently Time Warner Cable can be incredibly petty and vindictive when it wants to be. The company has said that it's not interested in carrying Epix, the premium movie channel, because that channel did a deal with Netflix to help stream some movies to Netflix customers. It's hard to understand how this makes any sense at all. If I'm a Time Warner customer (and thankfully, I'm not), a move like this is just a reason to drop them (and to sign up with Netflix). Why treat your customers so badly, just because you don't like a little competition?

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Filed Under: cable, competition, epix, movies
Companies: netflix, time warner cable

30 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 17 Sep 2010 @ 3:11pm

Sounds like a potential antitrust problem.
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- Anonymous Coward, 17 Sep 2010 @ 4:44pm
  
  Re:
  The problem is that Time Warner is too big to fail and that exempts them from anti trust suits. Anti trust only applies to Google for being big yet not too big to fail.
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  - Anonymous Coward, 20 Sep 2010 @ 2:36pm
    
    Re: Re:
    Um....I'm pretty sure that's not how it works.
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Brandon (profile), 17 Sep 2010 @ 3:19pm

Sounds like a great business model to me, AC. If every network streamed to Netflix and got dropped by cable providers as a result I would finally be able to ditch my cable TV and go online only. Yes please.
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- Anonymous Coward, 17 Sep 2010 @ 3:47pm
  
  Re:
  Agreed, I hope cable does this for everyone who streams to Netflix. I sure would love to have Discovery/History Channels, especially since it would be On Demand. I think I may have just had a geekgasim at the thought
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  - DS, 17 Sep 2010 @ 4:33pm
    
    Re: Re:
    Better yet, I could drop Time Warner.
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BruceLD, 17 Sep 2010 @ 3:26pm

Subject
Comcast just placed a nail in its own coffin.

Cable TV is eventually going to become a thing of the past. Streaming media is the future.

This is going to turn in to a major advantage for Epix and Netflix. I haven't watched cable tv for about 10 years now as I just download whatever I want.

When the streaming service arrives in Canada, I'm signing up for it. It sounds like something thats worth paying for.
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- :Lobo Santo (profile), 17 Sep 2010 @ 3:32pm
  
  Re: Subject
  Ditto on the 'no TV for like 10 years'
  
  Netflix is well worth it. I watch what I want, when I want, without commercials.
  
  :D
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- Anonymous Coward, 17 Sep 2010 @ 3:44pm
  
  Re: Subject
  Comcast?
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  - Anonymous Coward, 17 Sep 2010 @ 3:49pm
    
    Re: Re: Subject
    Comcast=Timewarner=CableOne, the cable monopoly that was "split up"
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Planespotter (profile), 17 Sep 2010 @ 3:45pm

Mmmm... how long before they start lobbying to have their outdated business model propped up by the Government?
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Sep 2010 @ 3:54pm

I um, I hope I'm not ruining this for everybody or anything, but are the TWC programming execs aware that Netflix works perfectly well over their internet service, which many of their subscribers have under the same plan? It's just that, well, it's not like their customers aren't going to get the Epix stuff if they want it.
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- Jeremy7600 (profile), 17 Sep 2010 @ 4:39pm
  
  Re:
  I am a TW internet subscriber. Cancelled TV over a year and a half ago. Started netflix about 6 months after. They tried to cap and bill, but we protested and they backed off. Guess they want to DRIVE people to netflix. Maybe they think cap and bill will see the light of day and people will cancel netflix and stop watching hulu. Fat chance!
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  - taoareyou (profile), 17 Sep 2010 @ 8:13pm
    
    Re: Re:
    Cap and Bill will never make if off the ground in the U.S. for one reason: Internet ads. If people are going to have caps on their usage that can cost them $$ they are going to take every measure available to block 100% of ad content that tries to get delivered to them. Sure there are people who use AdBlock now, but multiply that by millions and watch ad revenues plummet, and then watch sites that depend on ad revenue have to cut back or shut down.
    
    It can happen in other countries, but we all know the U.S. is the world's leading consumer and advertisers do not want us shutting them out in massive quantities.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Sep 2010 @ 4:12pm

I would rather see Epix on Netflix anyway.
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JJC, 17 Sep 2010 @ 4:25pm

Comcast, Nail in Coffin?
Considering Comcast limits it's users monthly usage to 250 gigs and netflix movies average about 4 gigs apiece, I'd say its an effective means to limit netflix with thier customer base. Unfortunately, I have no other recourse in getting broadband internet where I'm at, non-monopoly my eye!
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- A Dan (profile), 20 Sep 2010 @ 7:36am
  
  Re: Comcast, Nail in Coffin?
  You could throttle your own connection, so Netflix doesn't run at the HD resolution. That's what I'm trying to do now.
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trilobug, 17 Sep 2010 @ 4:46pm

An epic decision
Time Warner is only ISP provider in my area and I cannot get ESPN3.com. While a separate issue, I'm not surprised by this decision. If they had their druthers they would probably block Netflix all together if wouldn't piss too many off.

I love Netflix and I spend too much time online anyway. I'm ditching DirecTV when my contract is up.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Sep 2010 @ 4:46pm

Unfortunately given no other reasonable choices, I'm stuck with TWC for internet and they have been "glitching" connections to Netflix for some time. It is not something easily provable but I can go days without any network problems pushing a meg a second over connections to work and such. But as soon as I bring up even non-hd tv show's on netflix my internet goes down for 10-15 seconds at a time about once an hour and I suffer huge loss of bandwidth which does not return unless I physically reset the cable modem.

Sure wish there were some actual competition out here because I would most surely vote with my wallet and say FU TWC.
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ChimpBush McHitlerBurton, 17 Sep 2010 @ 4:58pm

Why???
"Why treat your customers so badly, just because you don't like a little competition?"

Because you're a Douche-Nozzle?

Yep.

CBMHB
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TWC wack job, 17 Sep 2010 @ 7:22pm

Hmm...
As an employee of TWC, I can attest to the fact it is petty and vindictive. Not only to the other players, but to their employees and customers as well.

If any of you has TWC for your carrier, you know that it is overloaded, over utilized and no capital is being spent to improve the situation.

I look forward to the day when Google TV, Apple TV, Boxxee, HULU and the others are viable. Currently, it's close, but it's not quite there. When I can get my shows from the IP broadcast, I will gladly hand in my badge....even though I work on the "high speed" side.

Let's all pray it comes together soon for IPTV. It is time for streaming media to take over from the cable companies who are trying to drain the customer's bank accounts. Isn't it amazing the pay rates aren't going up, but your cable bill continues to climb?
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TWC wack job, 17 Sep 2010 @ 7:22pm

Hmm...
As an employee of TWC, I can attest to the fact it is petty and vindictive. Not only to the other players, but to their employees and customers as well.

If any of you has TWC for your carrier, you know that it is overloaded, over utilized and no capital is being spent to improve the situation.

I look forward to the day when Google TV, Apple TV, Boxxee, HULU and the others are viable. Currently, it's close, but it's not quite there. When I can get my shows from the IP broadcast, I will gladly hand in my badge....even though I work on the "high speed" side.

Let's all pray it comes together soon for IPTV. It is time for streaming media to take over from the cable companies who are trying to drain the customer's bank accounts. Isn't it amazing the pay rates aren't going up, but your cable bill continues to climb?
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AW, 17 Sep 2010 @ 7:38pm

Oddly I can't really complain about my TWC people, granted we are the only town they service as a separate node of a larger branch, but I would much rather have TWC than Comcast as Comcast is almost double what I pay for TWC and has horrible customer service. I have noticed some throttling and that they block certain inbound attempts, but I watch tons of Netflix and have never had an issue. Literally the only thing keeping us on cable right now is my wife's stupid workout program.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Sep 2010 @ 8:58pm

Some people could be their own neighborhood netflix.

I see some times people claiming they have 3 thousand DVD's, that is a lot of DVD's, if they set up a server they could provide endless joy to their own little communities LoL

Netflix should got that way, building local servers where people can build things on it, it would be a boom to their business, they would control local storage and servers, that people could visit. I know the idea its not new but the twist may be.

Now one thing I wonder, if netflix would go to France would their customers be disconnected from the internet for streaming movies?
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- TPBer, 18 Sep 2010 @ 11:22am
  
  Re:
  5TB and growing, I am the family's version of netflix. We have not used DVDs or any plastic for several years.
  
  All modern tvs worth buying (the operative word) have some sort of media player and usb ports. Just connect any one of the TB drives and access to approx 1000 movies at a time.
  
  The bigger Visios have 3 usb media ports, thatss 3000 at a time.
  
  Why would you even bother to burn to dvd?
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  - Anonymous Coward, 18 Sep 2010 @ 4:24pm
    
    Re: Re:
    5TB is approximately 2000 DVD's, I hope you have backups, that is the one problem with HDD's, you need to have a backup to make it last.
    
    About the USB have you tried a port expansion?
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DanVan (profile), 19 Sep 2010 @ 12:08pm

There is a reason nobody I know remotely likes Time Warner. They are a crap company with crap products and most of their own customers would switch in a heartbeat if they had another company that could compete with Time Warner in their area which has been monopolized
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- A Dan (profile), 20 Sep 2010 @ 7:41am
  
  Re:
  I just had to switch from Time Warner to Comcast. I can honestly say that I loved Time Warner in comparison.
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JoeNYC, 20 Sep 2010 @ 10:18am

Just switched from TWC to Verizon FiOS-- much better picture-- and so sick of TWC lousy customer service.
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pete, 18 Apr 2012 @ 9:56pm

time warner cable
time warner cable suck because they are changing too much and every year it go up up and up.
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