Losing my favorites

[Waldo_1]

3 of my favorite channels, don't want to lose them either, let's hope thay can strike an equitable deal, and not charge the customer unnecessarily; I really pay enough already, I really don't want to lose these channels and I don't want to switch to COMCAST, U-Verse is really superior.

[Mieke528]

IFC and AMc are just about the only channels I watch especially with "Mad Men" coming back. If this problem doesn't get resolved I plan to return to Comcast.

Mieke528

[dhascall ACE - Professor]

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Melissa69 wrote:

If you drop AMC and Mad Men I will be dropping AT&T U-Verse. Pay your bills. Your rates keep going up and your threatening to take away the best show on TV 10 days before it's premiere. Bad business AT&T. All the other providers don't seem to have a problem. What's next NBC because Comcast owns it. I think you should be thinking about how to keep your customers not lose them.

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What rate increase?  Compared to cable?  Too funny.  Five increases in 18 months for our neighborhood's Comcast cable (38%) and two for U-Verse (8%)

All the other providers?  You are funny times two.  No other providers contracts are set to expire, yet.  If Rainbow Media (who owns AMC, IFC and We) forces AT&T into paying more than appropriate for three moderately successful channels, one can guess that Direct TV and Dish will be their next victims.  Also Rainbow is owned by a cable company (Cablevision), talk about anti-trust.  I say lose the channels for 2-3 days and force Rainbow into a more reasonable offer.

Keep your customers?  If AT&T pays too much for these irrelevent (at least to me) channels and passes an increase to me, I may leave.  So Rainbow might cause folks to leave, no matter what.

[honestguy]

If AT&T drops these channels, I expect to receive a rate cut

[texasguy37 ACE - Champion]

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honestguy wrote:

If AT&T drops these channels, I expect to receive a rate cut

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Ho well do you handle disappointment?

[papercy]

Hmmm, do you expect a rate increase when they add channels?  I didn't see one when they added HLN-HD a few weeks ago nor when they added all the World Cup channels.

[lbendsen]

All I want to do is strongly protest the possible loss of IFC.  There is so much dreck on TV that if I'm watching it, it's usually a film without commercials on IFC.  If you can't reach a "reasonable" contract  with The Rainbow Network, or whatever it's called (reasonable for whom?), I  may well drop my contract with Att U-verse.

[jvolpe_1]

It would be extremely disappointing to lose AMC and IFC, as well as WE.   This cannot be fair in any way, shape, or form.    Rainbow knows they have a lot of viewers and are trying to extort maximum dollar.     They should really appreciate their customers but instead they believe the customer owes them more money.   Did the prices of the movie library they already own somehow go up???   Or is this the way they thank their viewers when they go to their advertisers to get more ad revenue?????   Shame on them.

John

[MammaMia_1]

This is incredibly frustrating.  I watch AMC only for Mad Men and Breaking Bad, and never watch IFC or WE (though if I could get IFC in HD, then I might DVR it sometimes.)  I don't know what I'll do if AT&T and Rainbow don't come to terms before the 25th.  I might just buy the episodes on iTunes, or I might consider switching back to my local cable provider ... Cablevision.  Honestly, there are a few features on uverse that we like better than Cablevision, but we lost a few things when we switched, too.  (AMC in HD being one of them...) 

I don't know if this is the proper use of the word "ironic", but what prompted me to switch to uverse in the first place was a breakdown in contract negotiations between Cablevision and the parent company for HGTV & Food Network about 6 months ago. During this time Cablevision stopped airing those channels for several weeks, while both sides blamed the other for being greedy and not negotiating in good faith.

[Melissa69]

FYI for anybody who hasn't seen this. AMC has a countdown going for when U-VERSE will be dropping the 3 stations.. There are also numbers and e-mail's where we can send our complaints.

Here's the link..Check it out.

http://www.iwantmytvchannels.com/

[smcleod1106]

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Melissa69 wrote:

FYI for anybody who hasn't seen this. AMC has a countdown going for when U-VERSE will be dropping the 3 stations.. There are also numbers and e-mail's where we can send our complaints.

Here's the link..Check it out.

http://www.iwantmytvchannels.com/

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I think the funniest thing about that page is where you can put your zipcode in and Rainbow Media will help you find a new TV provider..classictalk about playing hardball.....let's get ready to rumble

[paul416]

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JayPSU wrote:

Since U-Verse in my area has never had AMC in HD, I've never really watched the channel.  I guess I've become a bit of an HD snob over the years.  If this little war with Rainbow results in us actually getting AMCHD, I'd be excited as I'd love to watch some of the shows that everyone says are so great.  If not, I don't feel like I'm losing anything because I don't watch AMC in SD.  There are other channels that I care much more about.  I want U-Verse to focus on adding MLB Network, and some of the sports subscriptions with my priorities being MLB Extra Innings and NHL Center Ice. 

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Thank You! Another absurdity. ATT wants to get in the mix with the big boys but won't carry the channel of our national pastime, MLB Network. Pathetic.

[firemanob]

Seems to me that ATT is continuing to adjust their programming to the detriment of its customers. They take channels away from lower tiers and add them to higher more expensive ones. They add a ton of channels that dont seem to be wanted or needed. (granted, thats relative to my personal perspective). The loss of these three channels will leave the basic subscribers with no movie channels whatsoever. I am disheartened by the cable companies greed and am quickly getting the same feelings from ATT. The fact that we get charged what we do to watch television is ridiculous. Its almost worth changing once a year from one to another to take advantage of the deals they give when you sign on. I think if they take away these channels I will be going away myself. As a customer i dont really care that they have contract disputes and that The parent company of the three channels is trying to force the issue. I want what I was given when i signed on and have been paying for. Im quite positive that the loss of these channels wont reduce any rates on our end. Another case of getting less and paying more. It kinda reminds me of a Nilla Wafer cookie..have you seen how small they have gotten?.. but yet they charge more and more... welcome to America and capitalism at its best.

[Tito_1]

I caught IFC & AMC both scrolling mesages across, but I never did get a message on my TV from AT&T stating that we might be losing the channels.

[Xbef]

I read some of this thread and thought to myself, “Are people really this STUPID?!?” I love watching Mad Men and Breaking Bad as much as anyone, but there is no way I will reward a network, in this case Rainbow Networks, by changing to a different provider if Uverse no longer carries the channels. Rainbow Network is trying to make this about Uverse (and doing a good job about it I can tell from the dumb responses people have left in this thread) not paying for the channels, but the real situation is Rainbow Networks (RN) wants more money and Uverse isn’t willing to pay as much of an increase that RN is proposing. So what does RN do? They paint UV as the bad guy, but remember this if you will. RN makes advertising money, it probably is the lion’s share of their revenue. The more people that watch their shows the more they can charge for ads. That is the carrot that forces them to provide quality entertainment. RN wants more money per subscriber so they tell Uverse to pay up. Uverse doesn’t want to charge their customer’s more so they fight ON BEHALF ON THEIR CUSTOMERS to keep things as close as they are now. Otherwise Uverse will need to drop the channels or raise monthly rates.  RN also shamefully placed a zip code finder on their website to help people find providers that will be airing AMC past July 14. This is their way of getting their cake and eating it too. If Uverse pays up RN wins. If Uverse drops the channels and customers move to other providers RN wins. This gives RN a strong bargain position and they are using it to line their pockets. So, if you leave Uverse to go somewhere that have AMC, IFC or WE you are only hurting yourself in the long run because when the other networks see how easy it is to raise the cost of their channels and not see a big net loss of viewers they will continue to raise prices every chance they get because the sheeple will follow them not realizing that each time they do they are paying more and more for less and less. I for one will not be held hostage to a channel because there is certainly more important things in life to me than watching 2 fantastic shows. One of them is not allowing a company to arbitrarily raise prices simply because there are too many stupid people and not enough forward-thinking people in the world to stop them.

[paul416]

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Xbef wrote:
I read some of this thread and thought to myself, “Are people really this STUPID?!?” I love watching Mad Men and Breaking Bad as much as anyone, but there is no way I will reward a network, in this case Rainbow Networks, by changing to a different provider if Uverse no longer carries the channels. Rainbow Network is trying to make this about Uverse (and doing a good job about it I can tell from the dumb responses people have left in this thread) not paying for the channels, but the real situation is Rainbow Networks (RN) wants more money and Uverse isn’t willing to pay as much of an increase that RN is proposing. So what does RN do? They paint UV as the bad guy, but remember this if you will. RN makes advertising money, it probably is the lion’s share of their revenue. The more people that watch their shows the more they can charge for ads. That is the carrot that forces them to provide quality entertainment. RN wants more money per subscriber so they tell Uverse to pay up. Uverse doesn’t want to charge their customer’s more so they fight ON BEHALF ON THEIR CUSTOMERS to keep things as close as they are now. Otherwise Uverse will need to drop the channels or raise monthly rates.  RN also shamefully placed a zip code finder on their website to help people find providers that will be airing AMC past July 14. This is their way of getting their cake and eating it too. If Uverse pays up RN wins. If Uverse drops the channels and customers move to other providers RN wins. This gives RN a strong bargain position and they are using it to line their pockets. So, if you leave Uverse to go somewhere that have AMC, IFC or WE you are only hurting yourself in the long run because when the other networks see how easy it is to raise the cost of their channels and not see a big net loss of viewers they will continue to raise prices every chance they get because the sheeple will follow them not realizing that each time they do they are paying more and more for less and less. I for one will not be held hostage to a channel because there is certainly more important things in life to me than watching 2 fantastic shows. One of them is not allowing a company to arbitrarily raise prices simply because there are too many stupid people and not enough forward-thinking people in the world to stop them.

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I think stupid is to pay a certain amount and then have AT&T lose three channels and continue to charge the same price. Has ATT stated they will lower sub costs if the three channels are lost? Then ATT is paying out less while getting the same from subs. Dumb on any sub who pays the same for less . I believe now that this is a ploy by ATT to jack up prices and blame it on Rainbow. 

[terann]

So can it be inferred that people are paying "all this money" *just* for these three channels??  Too funny!!

Instead of lowering the cost, more than likely ATT will find some channels that cost the same amount of money but provide more entertainment. I'm all for that since I hate AMC and WE and find IFC mediocre. In fact, I think ATT should drop them.

And if ATT keeps these three channels, why should I have to pay more?? I don't want 'em!

I can't wait for tomorrow to get the next installment in this Rainbow docu-drama.....

To Xbef: Thanks for writing exactly what I've been thinking the past few days. When all these people switch over to Direct TV or whatever and find themselves in this same position again regarding Rainbow when DirectTV's (whomever's) contract needs to be re-negotiated, they will all be stuck in place by a contract. 

[indy500_1]

My wife spends more time watching the movies on AMC than viewing any other channel.

I also enjoy many of the flicks. Neither of us watch IFV or WE.

We both are in agreement that to lose AMC  will result in our dropping uVerse on going to a different cable supplier.

I find it interesting that ATT will be dropping 3 channels shortly after informing us that the rate for the  200 cable service will increase.

We pulled Comcast after the firm did the same thing two years in a row. I won't wait for ATT to do it next year.

The ball is in our court ATT. Do the right thing to keep your customers.

[texasguy37 ACE - Champion]

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indy500 wrote:

We pulled Comcast after the firm did the same thing two years in a row. I won't wait for ATT to do it next year.

The ball is in our court ATT. Do the right thing to keep your customers.

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It seems like you are going to run out of places to run.

[Xbef]

For those of you that will be moving do you think this will not happen again for other cable providers? This is not about AT&T keeping its customers it is about AT&T negotiation on behalf of the customers so RN doesn't run roughshod over the very people that support its programming through ad and subscription revenue. RN can kick rocks if it thinks I will support it if it cannot find a compromise with AT&T. I will use the internet to watch Mad Men (without supporting RN) which is just as easy as watching it on my DVR. If you switch to different cable providers you will only be encouraging RN to do this year after year and with each cable provider. How can you not see this?

[dbautista]

It's not that I watch these a whole lot- it's the principle. They make themselves look bad. Never mind that there are A TON of viewers that they won't be able to advertise to or appeal to. Keep up the good fight AT&T U-verse!

[ChadtokeepAMC]

I completely agree.  AMC has some great movies and who cares about them having commercials when you can record the movie and skip the commercials anyway??  Also, I really enjoy IFC because it carries uncut movies, which is one of the few basic channels (200 package) that do.  Otherwise, we would have to pay extra for a premium package to watch uncut movies.

AT&T should realize that these channels are some of the best channels on the basic package (for the average consumer) and should cost more than negotiating deals with many channels such as: G4, tennis channel, ATT Yellow Pages.com tv, the church channel, Fox Soccer channel, CCTV-9, GAC, Gala vision, etc...  Get real AT&T, who's strong-arming who here?  Publish the rates & comparisons for us consumers to see before claiming you're being strong-armed. 

[sweetkisses324]

DO NOT get rid of WE tv. It's one of my favorite channels most of my shows I like are in that channel. If they DO get rid of it, then I might as well go back to comcast. Think about it AT&T. U will lose most of your customers if u take those three channels such as: AMC, IFC and WE. Not a good thing. Like I said think about it....... AT&T....... DO NOT MAKE THIS MOVE!

[Dcsouthbay]

I will switch to Comcast in a heartbeat. I'm already disappointed in a lot of the u-verse product. No HBO on demand in HD? What's up with that? And WAY to many channels that don't allow recording, but did on Comcast. And to be honest, I think Comcast sucks, but they might suck less than ATT, especially if they start canceling good channels to save money!

[texasguy37 ACE - Champion]

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Dcsouthbay wrote:

I will switch to Comcast in a heartbeat. I'm already disappointed in a lot of the u-verse product. No HBO on demand in HD? What's up with that? And WAY to many channels that don't allow recording, but did on Comcast. And to be honest, I think Comcast sucks, but they might suck less than ATT, especially if they start canceling good channels to save money!

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What channel can you not record?  You can record every channel that you are subcribed to.

[kmtoda]

It would be a shame to lose the three channels.  I enjoy watching the movies or programs on each of the three channels in questions.  Hopefully, they do not go away.

[Dcsouthbay]

They wouldn't let you record SJ Sharks hockey in HD. You could watch it, but recording wasn't allowed. Only record on the SD channel. You were correct about the other channel - it was one that was FREE on Comcast (Pladium) and ATT wanted me to pay extra to subscribe, so it says recording not allowed, but I really wasn't subscribed.  its another reason to go back to Comcast....

[texasguy37 ACE - Champion]

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Dcsouthbay wrote:

They wouldn't let you record SJ Sharks hockey in HD. You could watch it, but recording wasn't allowed. Only record on the SD channel. You were correct about the other channel - it was one that was FREE on Comcast (Pladium) and ATT wanted me to pay extra to subscribe, so it says recording not allowed, but I really wasn't subscribed.  its another reason to go back to Comcast....

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I subscribe to Palladia, and I have no problem recording programs on the channel.  As far as SJ Hockey on your RSN HD channel, I don't know since I don't get that RSN in my market.  I do receive the FSSW-Dallas HD channel in my market, and I have never had a problem recording any of the games on that channel.

[tiggerfan]

So the channels are still here and it's past midnight eastern...

[bleachermom6]

I really hope that this is not going to happen, I have just switched to U-verse last month. I really enjoy watching WE and AMC on a regular basis. I will have to rethink my decision of the switch since I will not be offered my favorite channels anymore. I hope that ATT will take in all these complaints and continue to keep these channels.

-Barb