2008

[stevenl]

Well the rumor mills have already started here are just a few.....

1. As I mentioned earlier this year it seemed bhn was going up for sale.... I think that rumor is more true now then ever, so lets see how this plays out....

2. RoadRunner customers expect another "free" speed increase next year along with a new faster speed package to be available. BHN has already been allocating more "space/bandwidth" For the RR service in preparation of this with the addition of 2 new Qams dedicated to RR. Giving them now 4 downstream qams and 2 upstream qams.

3. The obvious increase in HD content, is coming as well as announced by another member here. (and back in October)

4. Reduction in Analog channels? Switch Digital Video? New phone service options? Oh boy where do we begin!!!

 

[jcarrera]

A typical event when a company is sold is that the employee base is reduced by the new owners. Guess what that does to service.

 

[stevenl]

When We went from CVI to TimeWarner to BHN we did not see any lay offs, perhaps a few at the very top as they brought over their own "presidents" etc, but below vp levels we saw little to no layoffs. In fact we are hiring pretty quickly atm, while our biggest competitors in Orlando are laying off. I do hope the new company who takes over (if it happens) (rumors are Cablevision or perhaps a twc/comcast split like with the adelphia mess) do what the previous takeovers did and improve the employees working situation and not harm it.

 

[LonghornXP]

I've been hearing the rumor of the sale but was told not to make it public. I'm hearing that Cablevision might be the buyer because right now Comcast most likely won't get FCC approval because of the number of customers they will have unless they swap markets among say TWC. The net result will be that TWC will gain customers while Comcast will mostly have the same number of customers. The difference for Comcast is "where" those customers will be not how many extra customers they can get. Also keep in mind that Comcast is in Sarasota County and I believe Polk County as well so it makes sense that they might buy the Tampa Bay and Central Florida markets from BHN.

BHN wants to sell because they are getting killed by Verizon and they just don't want to spend the money anymore. They upgraded the networks in this area to 1Ghz along with adding SDV to increase the value of the systems which in turn will allow them to increase the asking price to buy.

 

[stevenl]

Well the biggest rumour I heard was cablevision but what makes me think comcast, is they already have plant here in orlando, and it sucks. When they took it over from Adphelia that have done little to nothing to improve it, which leads me to think they dont want that plant anymore, and want BHNs.. I think it will be a buyback with TWC and possible Comcast, in the loop as well. Id be happy with either or, In this area Comcast (which has not even 20% the customer base bhn has in the area) pays its techs starting out what our guys make after about 5 years. So As an employee it should be very benefitial to us if its comcast. TWC would not change much as we were TWC before BHN anyway, of course we had a few more benefits under TWC id like back (like the stock options which made me have a good time, until AOL TWC merged WTF!!!!)

So either way, I think it will be better for customers to have a seasoned Cable company run the system, one who's core business is cable, and one who is willing to spend a fortune in upgrades, whereas BHN is leary of doing so, as Cable is not even their biggest earner..

 

[Khandurian]

That would explain ALOT of the things going on with the sub-contractors. I must go find my little lost puppy and spank him for not telling me about this!

 

[iceturkee]

That would explain ALOT of the things going on with the sub-contractors. I must go find my little lost puppy and spank him for not telling me about this!

its christmas, khands, could you wait a day before spanking the puppy?


steven, i need more poop about the upcoming rr changes. and how might a bhn sale affect my phone and internet service?

 

[JonOrlando]

I was looking at the different providers' lineups and Comcast matches fairly close, with the addition of the upcoming HD channels BHN announced they would be adding.

 

[Khandurian]

That would be interesting. I would imagine that if a sale does go through, that they have to honor the contracts of existing customers: IE: Unlimited Florida, Unlimited Nationwide, etc. etc. I know BHN did honor the contracts of the TWC customers when the bought certain systems from them, so who knows....

Iceturkee I do have to be careful right now anyways. Ive caused so much trouble over there with the new software upgrade (in house software only) they just did that there are quite a few people who are not happy with me right now.

 

[stevenl]

haha Khaun

Well technically BHN does not have any contracts with customers, its a month to month thing, so they could I suppose change the price and you have the option to leave or stay... Id assume though any company taking over would not do anything drastic, because the CFL Market is a goldmine, for any cable operator it is BHNS biggest earner, and was TWCs top earner as well. We run this system right, from CVI to TWC to BHN not much has changed except of course technology, and we still remain one of the top earning and most coveted clusters of any cable system...

 

[Khandurian]

Oh boy did I stir up a hornets nest this morning! Forget about them not being happy with me, their downright pissed! I believe they were trying to keep this hush hush over here! Funny how -- "Hey, I heard BHN might be selling back to TWC or even possibly comcast? Heard anything about that?"

Can we say, "OOPS!" oh well, such is life! It was going to come out sooner or later!

I think I am going to lean more towards comcast. Reason being they just bought (couple of months ago I think) the system directly north to us and literally border us. In Mims, one side of the street is comcast, the other BHN.

Time will tell.

 

[jcarrera]

...because the CFL Market is a goldmine, for any cable operator it is BHNS biggest earner, and was TWCs top earner as well. We run this system right, from CVI to TWC to BHN not much has changed except of course technology, and we still remain one of the top earning and most coveted clusters of any cable system...

Well, that explains the service. They are keeping the money as earnings instead of pouring it into adding HD and getting reps who know what they are talking about.

 

[stevenl]

Khaun they also have overbuild in alot of the CFL market. and Comcast as I mentioned earlier has done nothing to improve it unlike what they have done in other markets they took from Adelphia... Makes ya wonder.... I guess I better start practicing "Its Comcastic!!"

jcarrea, no it has to do with the fact that the orlando market has the lowest churn rate of ANY cable divison in TWC/BHN and id beg to say the country. The fact we are the leading force behind 3 consecutive JD power awards helps that as well. The fact that We are in a very fast growing market adding hundreds of miles a plant each year, and much more room for growth then say a market like newyork thats pretty well already built. It also has to do with the fact, BHN Orlando has the highest in digital, phone and internet penetration of all BHN.TWC markets. It has the highest penetration of basic/standard customers of any TWC/BHN Market. The price and services are the same in most all bhn/twc markets.... The difference I listed above is why we in Orlando are the cash cow. We handle ours...

 

[jcarrera]

stevenl, you should get them to move you to the BHN PR department and give you a BIG raise!

 

[stevenl]

Everything I say can be backed up with numbers and facts. Compared to every other division in the BHN/TWC group Orlando always ranks highest in everything, (except churn rate which is a good thing) BHN just cant get that point across in a 30sec ad..

PS: Im still pissed at them with this new software it SUCKS!!! (but its not Orlando's fault blame New York)

 

[jcarrera]

I didn't say you were not truthful. Are you saying that PR departments don't tell the truth, so you wouldn't be appropriate there?

 

[stevenl]

They dont have time to tell everything. Or details and customers frankly could care less. They want to know what new channel they get, how much it costs, etc etc They dont care if this BHN system is better then that one etc, and frankly BHN/TWC does not want people to know either. They want everyone to think they are all as good. When its just not fact....

 

[iceturkee]

I didn't say you were not truthful. Are you saying that PR departments don't tell the truth, so you wouldn't be appropriate there?

most pr people i have ever worked with during my days in the news business weren't totally dishonest. but they weren't totally truthful either. they would tell you exactly what their bosses want known to the public. lets see if i can state this more to the point.......any reporter really earning their paycheck would never have a pr person as a source. if you really want the truth, you must have inside sources. rule of thumb....no supervisors or public relations type.

does that help clarify?

 

[stevenl]

Exactly like iceturke says, its not about being truthful or dishonest. its about only releaseing the story you want known. EVERY company on earth does this. Every entity does this including our own government,

 

[jcarrera]

I neglected to show the tongue-in-cheek emoticon when I wrote that. It was a statement, written as a question.