When Altice dropped MSG Networks from its cable lineups, it left over one million of its Optimum clients with out entry to reside native video games that includes the Islanders, Knicks, Rangers and Devils.
Picture by way of Getty Pictures
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The media panorama is altering quickly, making it troublesome to maintain up with the fixed shifts—new companies, and even the place and find out how to watch a few of your favourite content material. The one fixed is that with rising costs and fractured choices, cable TV clients are left behind, usually having to pay extra for much less.
Due to this, disputes between cable corporations and content material suppliers are more and more commonplace whereas accountability and transparency with clients are more and more uncommon, as we just lately noticed when Altice USA dropped MSG Networks from its Optimum service for subscribers in Nassau County and throughout the tri-state space. Their cavalier motion revealed an entire lack of respect for residents in our group.
When Altice dropped MSG Networks from its cable lineups, it left over one million of its Optimum clients with out entry to reside native video games that includes the Islanders, Knicks, Rangers and Devils.
Altice’s rhetoric about why this was mandatory was extra of the identical gaslighting that we’ve seen earlier than—citing “exorbitant fees” and a must preserve costs down for customers. However it doesn’t take a lot thought to see how disingenuous this all is and that the one prices Altice is looking for are its personal, because it fails to go on any financial savings to clients whereas padding its earnings.
It’s arduous to imagine that this anti-consumer conduct continues to be tolerated.
Greater than per week since denying its viewers this in style programming, Altice has but to proactively refund its clients. As an alternative, they solely present some mixture of rebates, present playing cards and/or billing credit to these clients who contact them on to complain and are prepared to endure extreme wait instances to attach with an Altice consultant.
Some clients point out they obtain extra from Altice in the event that they threaten to disconnect and enroll with an Optimum competitor. If Altice really revered its clients and cared about conserving prices down, it might proactively present a full rebate to each single buyer who has seen their native sports activities content material yanked from the airwaves.
And, in fact, that is coming after Altice’s announcement simply final month of serious fee will increase, elevating the value of its current packages whereas providing new, supposedly customer-friendly choices that seem to reconfigure channel choices so that the majority customers need to pay considerably extra to obtain the identical content material.
Altice ought to be again on the bargaining desk, working to succeed in an settlement that restores MSG Networks for its clients. Till that content material returns, they need to instantly give the identical full rebates, refunds, and credit to each subscriber who has misplaced MSG Networks programming.
The media business could also be present process important change, however that’s no excuse for enormous companies to fully abandon their commitments to their clients and group to comply with normal, commonsense, honest enterprise practices.
Altice has put its personal backside line above every other consideration, and so they must be held accountable. Clients ought to get what they paid for, or they need to get their a reimbursement.
Dr. Taylor Darling is a former Meeting member for the 18th District (2019-24), representing inhabitants facilities throughout Nassau County, together with Hempstead, Uniondale, and Roosevelt.
