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Charter communications posts

Court sides with Charter, takes DirecTV ads pointing out bankruptcy off the air

by Richard Lawler posted May 15th 2009 at 1:19PM

It seems DirecTV has gone out of its way to let Charter customers know about the cable company's bankruptcy proceedings, airing ads that said there was no way it could continue to provide more HD channels and that customers needed to be saved from its bankruptcy. Apparently the U.S. District Court in St. Louis agreed the ads went too far in implying the company might be liquidating or about to stop offering service, issuing a temporary restraining order barring the ads. This is far from the first time the law has had to jump in on one side or another of TV providers ads, we're just wondering when they'll jump in on ads touting "choices," highlighting broadband speed without mentioning bandwidth caps and pushing HD channels without copping to known overcompression issues.

Charter Communications files for prearranged Chapter 11 bankruptcy

by Darren Murph posted Mar 29th 2009 at 12:35PM


We knew the flagging Charter Communications was looking to file for Chapter 11 on or before April 1st, and rather than waiting until Wednesday and fielding questions of whether or not the whole thing was "a joke," said carrier has gone ahead and made things official here in March. This past Friday, the fourth largest cable company filed for its prearranged Chapter 11 bankruptcy in order to stave off hungry creditors and look for ways to keep afloat. The good news is that it's hoping to emerge from bankruptcy as early as this summer, and at least currently, it's not planning to sell any of its assets to competitors. Of note, Charter has failed to post a single profit since going public in 1999, so one shouldn't be shocked at the $8 billion debt figure that the filing will restructure. Good luck out there Charter, you're going to need it.

Charter Communications to file for bankruptcy

by Darren Murph posted Feb 12th 2009 at 2:28PM Breaking News


Okay, so we hate to be blunt, but if there was one cable carrier out there just waiting to crash, it was Charter. The company famous for engaging in less-than-forthright contest practices and perpetually finding ways to perturb subscribers has just announced that a Chapter 11 filing isn't too far away. In fact, a recent press release makes clear that it "intends to implement its financial restructuring through a Chapter 11 filing to be initiated on or before April 1, 2009." As per the agreement, all debt holders will reportedly be paid in full, with Paul Allen keeping the largest voting interest in the company. Of course, shareholders' stake in the company will be canceled, but the decision will supposedly reduce debt by around $8 billion. As expected, the company has assured subscribers that its services will continue to operate throughout the debt restructuring process, but we wouldn't expect service to get any better in the coming months.

[Via AP, thanks Vanbrothers]

Charter launching 60Mbps broadband, asks "FiOS what?"

by Darren Murph posted Jan 29th 2009 at 3:33PM

Charter launching 60Mbps broadband, asks
Still waiting for Verizon's FiOS to come and light up your neighborhood with blistering download speeds? Now you have something even faster to wait for, with Charter Communications announcing it is launching a 60Mbps broadband service, utilizing DOCSIS 3.0 to fit more bits in the same pipes -- not quite the 160Mbps Comcast predicted, but we'll take it. What the company isn't announcing is when people will be able to tap into this or how much they'll pay for the privilege, but hopefully it'll be a little less than the $140 Verizon is charging.

Most Belo-owned stations finally permitted for transmission on Charter

by Darren Murph posted Dec 31st 2008 at 5:58PM

It's been a long, long time since Belo-owned stations were transmitted on Charter systems (what, two years or something now?), but the two are finally burying the hatchet before 2009... or partially burying it, anyway. According to Belo, 11 of its 15 markets can finally see Belo-owned locals in SD and HD on Charter, including KMOV-TV in St. Louis, WFAA in Dallas / Fort Worth, WCNC-TV in Charlotte and KONG-TV in Seattle / Tacoma. Few details about the actual agreement were made public, but we're just stoked that the two have finally made amends.

[Thanks, Shane]

Charter brings four new HD channels to St. Louis, Missouri

by Darren Murph posted Dec 23rd 2008 at 3:19AM

Charter Communications isn't abstaining from expanding HD channels as the holiday season approaches, as it has announced that four new high-def stations have launched alongside four digital SD nets in St. Louis, Missouri. Available now are Food Network HD (760), HGTV HD (761), National Geographic HD (768), Golf HD (772), Hallmark Movie Channel (122), ReelzChannel (145), American Life TV (146) and The Sportsman Channel (772). According to Steve Trippe, Vice President and General Manager of Charter's St. Louis operations, the carrier now provides "more than 400 HD choices that are instantly available at any time," which definitely does not translate into a remarkable amount of linear HD channels. Still, nice to have a few new ones, right STL?

Charter Communications makes some pricing changes of its own

by Darren Murph posted Nov 2nd 2008 at 12:38PM

We've already seen Mediacom and Comcast fess up to forthcoming price hikes, and now we've got Charter Communications pulling some of the same tricks. Recently, the cable carrier announced that (at least in some locales) it will be pushing the price of Expanded Basic up by $2 per month while lowering the HD Ultra View tier by $3 per month. Granted, "many" HD channels are being moved from the latter into the former, but there are the facts. On a positive note, the basic cable package, high-speed internet and digital phones prices are all staying put, so yeah, it could definitely be worse.

Charter trying to nab TBS HD prior to MLB playoffs

by Darren Murph posted Sep 30th 2008 at 3:46AM


While Verizon already secured TBS HD for its FiOS TV customers prior to the start of the MLB playoffs, Charter Communications subscribers may or may not be so fortunate. Particularly for Brewers fans in Wisconsin, the desire need to land this station in short order is crucial to their well being, and according to corporate spokeswoman Anita Lamont, the carrier is working hard to make it happen. Currently, the station isn't slated to go live until October 14th, but that's obviously far beyond the date baseball fans are hoping for. In somewhat related news, Charter Wisconsin is also scheduled to launch Animal Planet HD, Movie Channel HD and Smithsonian HD in mid-October, so even if the whole TBS thing doesn't happen on time, not all joy is lost.

[Image courtesy of DiamondHoggers]

Charter, LIN TV reach retrans agreement

by Richard Lawler posted Jun 11th 2008 at 5:41PM Breaking News

Charter customers in 11 LIN TV-owned markets can breathe a sigh of relief, the cable company and broadcaster have reached an agreement in principle that should allow them to continue to carry the stations' programming. Check the original post for the affected areas, however since your TV stations won't be going dark June 30, there's no real hurry. Always great when an agreement can be reached and no one has to miss even a second of that sweet, sweet HDTV.

Charter adds eight HD channels in Metro St. Louis

by Richard Lawler posted Apr 17th 2008 at 1:24PM

Good news St. Louis, Charter's throwing eight more high definition channels on top of the three it added back in January, but unfortunately the press release completely neglected to mention which eight. Judging by a post from PWSHER at AVS Forum based on a mailer that came yesterday and confirmed by St. Louis Business Journal, we're pretty sure that AMC HD, CNN HD, TLC HD, Animal Planet HD, Science HD, Smithsonian Channel HD, The Movie Channel HD and TBS HD should be filling out your lineup sometime soon. Check after the break for the channel codes and let us know if you see anything new on your HDTV.


Read - Charter adds 8 HD channels to Metro St. Louis
Read - AVS Forum
Read - St. Louis Business Journal

Continue reading Charter adds eight HD channels in Metro St. Louis

Charter adding three new HD channels to St. Louis, Missouri lineup

by Darren Murph posted Jan 27th 2008 at 11:02PM

Just over a month after AT&T wired St. Louis, Missouri up with U-verse access, Charter Communications is (softly) hitting back by introducing three new high-definition options to the local lineup. Reportedly, Discovery Channel HD, The Weather Channel HD and Versus / Golf Channel HD will be available for viewing as of January 30th, but our tipster notes that CBS is still unavailable in HD. Can't win 'em all, right?

[Thanks, Anthony]

Charter upgrades Louisiana to 44 HD channels

by Steven Kim posted Dec 7th 2007 at 5:03PM

Charter upgrades Louisiana to 44 HD channelsIf you're a Charter customer in Louisiana for whom the addition of Wealth TV wasn't enough to sate your HD appetite, don't despair. Turns out that when Charter was forced to rebuild its LA plant after hurricanes Katrina and Rita, it designed around higher capacity from day one. The upshot is that the company has doubled its HD channel count in Louisiana, bringing the channel count to 44. Those of you in LA, enjoy your HD-bragging rights over the L.A. crowd. Seriously, this is good news for you customers, and a definite sign that the company is serious about the SDV rollout.

Charter hit by second fire in Malibu area

by Darren Murph posted Nov 28th 2007 at 8:58PM

For the second time this season, Charter Communications and its Malibu, California-area customers are dealing with outages stemming from wildfires. Granted, one's cable service is the least of our worries when dealing with situations such as this, but a whopping 12,000 feet of the operator's primary fiber optic cable was recently torched and will have to be replaced. The cable also provides feeds to homes in Agoura Hills, Calabasas and Hidden Hills, and while the firm is working to provide service to those affected, it's having to wait for power crews to sweep through first. Notably, Charter was already in the process of constructing a "redundant path to make the company less vulnerable to fire damage," and the latest word is that it's still a few weeks away from being completed.

Charter adds WealthTV to 11 Louisiana cities

by Darren Murph posted Nov 28th 2007 at 1:25PM

Although WealthTV has been available in select areas for awhile now, the channel is finally making its way down to the Bayou. Reportedly, Charter Communications added the station to the HD lineup in 11 Louisiana cities, including Thibodaux, Bourg, Slidell, Hammond, Marksville, New Roads, Pointe Coupee, Opelousas, Jennings, Church Point and Eunice. Unfortunately, Charter failed to mention if it would be rolling WealthTV out to other areas, but as we always say, we'll take any additions that we can get.

Charter bringing SDV, 40+ HD channels to northern L.A. area

by Steven Kim posted Nov 21st 2007 at 4:38PM

Charter bringing SDV, 40+ HD channels to northern L.A. areaIn the battle for HD offerings, everyone is playing catch-up to satellite. For its part, Cable operator Charter Communications is rolling out switched digital video (SDV) across its northern Los Angeles area to stay in the fight. The company plans to deliver more than 40 HD channels in 2008, roughly double its current count. This trial of SDV is expected to be up and running in Q1 2008, with the rollout continuing in other markets over the next two years. Hopefully the trial goes well and the count quickly moves past 40, because that number certainly won't guarantee any bragging rights next to those touted by DirecTV, Verizon or even fellow cable company Cox.




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