Comcast cable subscribers -- a poll

[manning]

What would you do if Comcast bought Disney -- vote above

 

[KNWVIKING]

I may drop Comcast regardless of what happens with Disney.

To be fair, Comcast has basically bought up the competition. The service sucked from our cable company long before Comcast bought them. They just never fired the old sucky employees. Some areas of the country probably love Comcast because the employees in their area didn't suck before Comcast bought them and continue to not suck afterwards. In most parts of the country - if not all- your local cable company has a monopoly. If they suck, tough. It's not like buying a car.

Comcast could possibly do a great job running Disney as long as the rest of their empire makes money. If they need to strip mine money away from the parks, then we're right back to square one.

 

[DebbieB]

I don't follow what one has to do with the other. Deciding cable or satellite is an independent decision to me, buying Disney has nothing to do with it.

We've had 3 cable companies in the past 5 years. First TCI, then AT&T and now Comcast. Rates have skyrocketed since Comcast took over. No major service problems. I don't want to fool around with a satellite, so I guess I'll be staying with cable (Comcast, no other choice).

I guess because I work for a major company that has gone through many mergers, acquisitions and spinoffs in the past 10 years, this doesn't seem like a big deal to me. My guess is the upper management of the theme parks division will stay in place since Comcast does not have anything similiar in their organization (if it even happens). They wouldn't buy Disney to destroy it. The Disney name will stay intact because that is it's major asset (it will not become Comcast World, no way). The Disney Company that is in place today is not the company that Walt created. It's a company that Michael Eisner has created with mergers and acquisitions (the biggest ABC). Talk about skyrocketing cable rates, Disney room rates and ticket prices have also skyrocketed in the past few years also but people seem to be able to take that without complaint because it's "Disney".

 

[seashoreCM]

Has Vivendi (its parent company now) caused Universal Studios and its theme parks to go downhill?

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

What I fear is WDW being chopped up into little pieces and sold off, real estate and all. WDW won't have the same atmosphere if that happened. Many acquired companies have undergone that fate, some disappeared completely not because they were running losses but because they weren't bringing their parent company enough profits. If I remember correctly, Montgomery Ward was one of those casualties, Mobil Oil being its last parent.

 

[Buzz2001]

We've had 3 cable companies in the past 5 years. First TCI, then AT&T and now Comcast. Rates have skyrocketed since Comcast took over. No major service problems.

Same has happened in my area. No competition for them either outside of a dish and I won't go in that direction.

 

[floridafam]

Rates have skyrocketed since Comcast took over.

You can lay part of the blame for this on Disney.

ESPN is THE most expensive cable channel and the most popular.

Comcast has to pay Disney to make ESPN available in their cable systems. Disney knows any cable system would be stupid not to offer ESPN and they charge accordingly.

Cable companies have to pay for most of the cable channels they offer us.

 

[doombuggy]

I live in an apt., so I am basically stuck with Comcast, which bought out Suburban Cable in 1999 or 2000 (I forget when exactly). I wouldn't mind trying a dish if I was able, as Comcast give me a poor product and poor sevice, someting I learned the last time I had them.

Several months ago, I started having problems receiving the local channels (ie CBS, ABC and NBC). The CBS channel, which I watch the most out of all channels that I get, comes in the worst. When the tech came over to check it out (soeemtime between 8 - 12 noon on a Sunday LOL), he told me to get an antenna, b/c the actual cable that is hooked up to my TV is pulling the channel "out of the air." That was his explanation as to why the reception is lousy. Why am i paying this company $45 buck per month for basic cable???????

 

[floridafam]

doombuggy,

Getting an antenna would make your problem worse. Yes, local channels go out "over the air" so to speak. The headend for the cable company picks up the local channels over the air and remodulates them over the cable system.

If you have a break in the cable line anywhere it basically is acting like an antenna. The tech should have replaced the cable in your house but didn't-maybe he had a certain quota to meet that day or something.

Maybe they didn't replace the cable wiring because you live in an apartment. Who knows?

What is the distortion you are seeing? Is it snow or duplicate images?