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Time Warner Cable Media joins Comcast in adding AT&T U-Verse to Ad Platform; U-Verse Survey!

Time Warner Cable Media, the cable operator’s ad sales division,  is the second MSO in recent weeks to strike a deal with AT&T  to have the latter’s U-Verse TV service linked to the cableco’s fixed scheduling network.  Specifically, AT&T’s U-Verse TV service is being incorporated into Time Warner Cable’s “fixed scheduling network grids” in 15 markets via an agreement between TWC and AT&T AdWorks. The pact gives clients access to a broader range of network options for their ads.

Time Warner Cable Media’s agreement with AT&T AdWorks, becomes effective with the 2013 broadcast year.  The markets covered under the agreement with AT&T are: Dallas; Los Angeles; Cleveland; Austin, Texas; San Antonio, Texas; Milwaukee; Columbus, Ohio; Kansas City; Green Bay, Wis., Dayton, Ohio; Raleigh, N.C.; Columbia, S.C.; Toledo, Ohio; and Louisville, Ky.

“This agreement with AT&T AdWorks simplifies the ad buying process for marketers to access consumers and grow their businesses. We relentlessly pursue new opportunities to help our clients grow their businesses,” Joan Hogan Gillman, Executive Vice President of Time Warner Cable and President of Time Warner Cable Media, said in a statement.

By “hard wiring” the network to run ads across a given designated market area with Time Warner Cable Media, AT&T “will expand our clients’ reach through one point of contact — making it a seamless process,” AT&T AdWorks president Mike Welch added.

This agreement, along with a similar pact AT&T signed with Comcast, will allow U-Verse to expand its ad reach via third-party MSO outsourcing.  AT&T had 4.34 million U-verse TV subscribers in the U.S. at the end of September, but that number is expected to increase by 1/3 in the next couple of years, according to AT&T.


“Currently, 32% of AT&Ts customers are covered by (triple play) U-Verse, which will increase by one-third to 8.5M additional customers and 43% coverage by the end of 2015.”

More details of AT&T’s U-Verse and IP DSLAM expansion plans is at:

http://viodi.com/2012/11/08/at-bring-fiber-to-commercial-buildings-cover-99-of-us-with-lte/

But the Huffington Post is very skeptical about AT&T’s $40B build-out, including the U-Verse expansion:

“On Nov. 7, 2012, AT&T announced that it would be spending $14 billion to upgrade their wireless and wireline networks. And yet, in fact, AT&T is only spending about $5 billion extra over the next three years, about 8 percent above their 2010-2011 expenditures, if that much. Moreover, on the same day, AT&T filed a petition with the FCC to remove most remaining telecom regulations, using these upgrades as a carrot.  History shows that AT&T’s broadband deployments are rarely, if ever fulfilled once the company receives the regulatory benefits.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bruce-kushnick/atts-14-billion-bribe_b_2195439.html


According to Ad Week, there’s no overlap between the Comcast/U-Verse households and the TWC/U-Verse households, so with the two agreements (which cover some 36 markets, all told), U-Verse is effectively outsourcing much of its advertising to other MSOs, as it tries to build a larger client base across the country.

For more information, please see:

http://www.adweek.com/news/television/time-warner-cable-media-adds-u-verse-ad-sales-platform-145462


AW Comment:

I’ve been a U-Verse subscriber for 4 months now, and can’t express how satisfied I”ve been with both the TV and high speed (12Mb/sec) Internet service.  Both have been rock solid with very high quality video- both SD and HD- and no hiccups in Internet service (as was the case with ADSL Pro @2.5Mb/sec).  Yet customer support has been terrible- even for the most mundane and seemingly trivial issues.

AT&T has a new slogan when you log into their customer website:  “Rethink Possible.”  Yet AT&T has not done a RETHINK on any aspect of U-Verse customer service- from installation to billing to reporting website errors after logging in.  This fact has been confirmed by numerous U-Verse customers I’ve interviewed, in preparation for a feature article comparing U-Verse to Comcast triple play services.  We excluded both Verizon and TW Cable because they do not offer their triple play services in the SF Bay Area and so have no presence here.

I have yet to experience any technical problems with the services- no disruptions or outages.  But I fear that when I do (and it’s inevitable), it will take a very long time to diagnose the problem cause, recover and repair the service.

Please comment below or email me:  [email protected]  if you have any experience with U-Verse service outages and recovery.  I will include your results (anonymously if you like) in the survey I will be publishing soon.  Many thanks!

 

Author Alan Weissberger

By Alan Weissberger

Alan Weissberger is a renowned researcher in the telecommunications field. Having consulted for telcos, equipment manufacturers, semiconductor companies, large end users, venture capitalists and market research firms, we are fortunate to have his critical eye examining new technologies.

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