by Amar Toor on March 28, 2011 at 08:33 AM

Daniel DeVirgilio of Beavercreek, Ohio was understandably shocked last week when he received a letter from Time Warner Cable. DeVirgilio, a 26-year-old engineer, had apparently failed to pay his cable bill, and owed the provider a chunk of cash -- $16.4 million, to be exact.
Turns out, the company made what it's calling a "human error" in calculating DeVirgilio's bill. An employee reportedly ...
by Amar Toor on January 19, 2011 at 12:50 PM

On Tuesday, the FCC and the Department of Justice finally approved a major merger between Comcast and NBC, after more than a year of debate and what federal regulators called the most acute scrutiny a media merger had ever faced. The deal gives Comcast control over NBC Universal's TV and movie subsidiaries, in exchange for about $13.75 billion in cash and assets. Comcast will own 51-percent of ...
by Caleb Johnson on January 12, 2011 at 04:05 PM

Despite a weak economy and more online options for viewers, satellite and cable operators will, once again, increase their prices in 2011. According to The Hollywood Reporter, analyst Craig Moffett predicts that most of the average price increases will be in the mid-to-low single-digit percentages. If you're a glass-half-full kind of person, these increases will, for the most part, be smaller ...
by Terrence O'Brien on January 5, 2011 at 08:30 AM

A recent survey by JP Morgan shows that 28-percent of cable subscribers would consider cutting the cord and going with Web-based video for their entertainment needs. Sure, 28-percent isn't a majority, but it's still a healthy chunk of customers -- and if those subscribers up and left, it would seriously eat into Big Cable's profits. Of course, most of those customers aren't jumping ship just yet. ...
by Amar Toor on November 1, 2010 at 08:50 AM

The lengthy standoff between News Corp. and Cablevision has finally come to a close -- and just in time for the World Series.
On Saturday night, the Fox network suddenly returned to some three million living rooms serviced by Cablevision, effectively ending a blackout that had begun on October 16th. The dispute had essentially boiled down to money; News Corp. wanted Cablevision to pay higher ...
by Caleb Johnson on May 12, 2010 at 08:10 AM

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As many television shows are wrapping up their seasons, we have horrible news. No, it's not a 'Lost' spoiler, but a rogue satellite orbiting the Earth could disrupt some cable programming. According to the AP, the Galaxy 15 satellite, which is owned by European company Intelsat, is on course to drift into the orbit of another satellite called AMC 11, which transmits cable programming ...
by Amar Toor on May 6, 2010 at 10:15 AM

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For the better part of the last decade, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has maintained a relatively laissez-faire approach to the Internet. In recent years, though, Internet titans like Google and Amazon have more vocally implored the FCC to implement hard regulation requiring broadband providers to guarantee access to all Web sites. Now, FCC Chairman Julius Genchowski is ...
by Matthew Zuras on April 22, 2010 at 05:35 PM

Check out this breathtaking sculpture by artist Kasey McMahon. Composed of "steel, CAT5 and other data cables," the self-portrait 'Connected' envisions the artist as bound by digital culture, or perhaps by an eccentric cable fetish of which we're not yet aware. We're not sure of the dimensions, but it looks to be about life-size. In case you're wondering, McMahon has some other, less ...
by Matthew Zuras on November 2, 2009 at 05:40 PM

Rumor has it that, in a possible bid to continue its complete takeover of our lives, Apple might soon replace your digital cable box.
digg_url ='http://www.switched.com/2009/11/02/rumor-mill-will-apple-replace-your-cable-service/';
Apparently, Apple has been quietly shopping a pitch to TV networks, in which it will provide networks' content (in lieu of a cable provider like Comcast) for $30 ...
by Caleb Johnson on September 2, 2009 at 12:01 PM

Call it the 'Hulu Effect,' but there's been a sea change in the way people watch television shows. According to Fast Company, a recent survey by Comscore and Silicon Alley Insider found that, during the month of July, more folks watched Hulu than did Time Warner Cable. The numbers stacked up like this: 38 million viewers watched a video at least once on Hulu, a free online video service, while ...
by Terrence O'Brien on December 22, 2008 at 11:33 AM

Good news, those undersea data cables that were cut on Friday are undergoing repairs as we speak, says the BBC. Authorities believe the cables were severed accidentally by a fishing trawler, and have dispatched a robotic submarine to find the cables and bring the to the surface so that they can be reconnected. Experts warn, however, that the repairs might not be done for several days, meaning ...
by Darren Murph on December 19, 2008 at 03:30 PM

So, there's good news and bad news, and per tradition, we'll be starting with the latter. Three of four undersea cables that route Internet traffic from Asia to North America have inexplicably been cut, meaning that your international 'Quake III' server may be a bit slow this evening. The good news is that this fiasco clearly hasn't affected you yet. The AP has confirmed via Egypt's communications ...
by Darren Murph on November 5, 2008 at 10:06 AM
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You know those cable price hikes that have been going around lately? Looks like you're not the only one who's a tad upset about it. The Federal Communications Commission has actually come forward to express its concern from the rampant outbreak of cable pay-TV increases, with spokeswoman Mary Diamond proclaiming that "over the last decade, average cable rates have more than doubled, and now ...
by Lee Bains on October 2, 2008 at 09:51 AM

The research firm CFI Group has found that cable customers are unhappy with providers' substandard customer service and high rates, ArsTechnica reports. This, of course, should come as no surprise to anybody who's had to take a day off work to wait around for the cable guy. According to CFI Group's data, 70-percent of former cable users cited high rates as cause for cancellation, while ...
by Darren Murph on September 24, 2008 at 08:29 AM

This ain't the first time Furutech has cranked out a cable beyond the realm of feasibility, and sadly we doubt it'll be the last. What you're looking at above is undoubtedly the sexiest, most desirable power cable this world has ever seen. Unfortunately, that bad boy isn't getting shipped to you unless you funnel $1,800 out of your bank account and into Furutech's. The brand new Piezo Powerflux ...