Compton Cable purchased by Rogers for $40 million

[dougjp]

I'm with Compton and this news is the worst thing imaginable.

[BrenIII]

Brendan O'Hara

[spun14]

Scared to see the CS go, one great thing with small companies. I know from experience with transitions, once Roger's starts the transition the CS will go out the window.

The Shaw to Roger's transition was a nightmare when the territory swap happened. Could fix a customers problem on Monday, Tuesday there was somebody standing over you telling you that you no longer have that authority and move it up the chain. A 3 minute fix turned into a 72 hour call back.

Love the pricing i just checked as well. Noticed that Sportsnet HD is included with all packages. But TSN HD is a convient additional charge.

[dougjp]

Originally Posted by spun14

Scared to see the CS go...

Please explain what CS is, or provide a link?

[hugh]

He means Customer Service

[nursedude]

One of the things I liked about Comptons was the fact they supported the HD TiVo that uses cable cards. I'll bet that changes as they become assimilated with Roger$.

[Wayne]

Originally Posted by nursedude

One of the things I liked about Comptons was the fact they supported the HD TiVo that uses cable cards. I'll bet that changes as they become assimilated with Roger$.

Wow - they must have been one of very few Canadian cable cos to actually issue CableCards. Did they have to be used in TiVos or could you use them in TVs or HTPC tuners as well?

I have always complained about not being able to use CableCards in Canada, not knowing that some small providers did give them out.

[arlene]

Had Rogers for about 15 years before moving to Uxbridge almost a year ago. What a refreshing change it was! I knew it was too good to last....I thought it would only be a matter of time before Rogers got their clutches into Compton....it's really too bad...not only are Rogers prices through the roof, but they have lost total touch with their customers....in addition, Compton's cable equipment is far superior....I don't know if it's the hardware or software, but with Rogers, I was unable to scroll the Guide by pages, unable to spell out a program title in Search, and unable to see other times a particular show is on...their system was not intuitive AT ALL and very slow to scroll.....plus the Compton Customer Service and Technical Field staff are awesome!!! They have great customer relationship skills and put the customer first.....this will all be down the tubes with Rogers.....the only upside for me is that I will be able to see more Buffalo Bills games (if there's no lockout) if they do switch their CBS feed from Detroit to Buffalo.....
Oh well....all good things must come to an end......I'm really sad!

[tofinoguy]

Originally Posted by bigoranget

Looks like Source Cable in Hamilton and Nor-Del Cable in Nanticoke are the only independent cable systems left in Southern Ontario. Source Cable indicated that they are not for sale in the summer of '09 when Mountain Cable was sold to Shaw. They are diversifying their business with wireless internet in rural areas and home security. I do however think it's a matter of time before Source Cable sells their cable, phone and internet service to either Shaw or Cogeco.

There are still a handful of smaller, independant companies. Cable Cable, Brooke Telecom, Bruce Telecom, Execulink, Ezlink, Hay Communcations, etc...

[classicsat]

I am a Hurontel customer, right next to the Bruce telecom system, both independant of Bell (one is a co-op the other essentially muncipally owned). Both offer IPTV, where technically possible. There is Kincardine Cable, still privately owned, AFAIK.

The neighboring towns to the east have Bell for phone (no IPTV, I know of), and Eastlink cable (formerly SauTel cable).

[digital_rookie]

Actually, Rogers bought Kincardine last summer. The transaction date was August 1st, 2010 IIRC.

As reported by Cartt.ca, here was the headline of that announcement.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
August 04, 2010

TORONTO and KINCARDINE – Rogers Communications has purchased Kincardine Cable, Cartt.ca has learned.

The deal closed on July 31st and employees were informed this week, according to a Rogers spokesperson. Financial terms were not disclosed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[RWAbacus]

This is a sad, SAD day for customers of Compton Communications!.

My son, who is a customer of Rogers, speaks nothing but ill of them - and apparently with good reason.

They had better support existing PVRs. I have three different Motorola boxes - all purchased - and if they're switching to Cisco Explorer types, GOD help us all. I've heard nothing but horror stories about these.

This SELLOUT to Rogers is the worst of all scenarios for Compton's customers. Customer service - heretofore OUTSTANDING, will slide to oblivion or lower.

This leaves a very bad taste in my mouth.

[hugh]

Numbers in today's financial reports

On February 28, 2011, we acquired 6,000 television subscribers, 5,000 digital cable households and 4,000 cable high-speed Internet subscribers
and 4,000 cable telephony lines from Compton. These subscribers are not included in net additions, but are included in the ending total balance
for the three months ended March 31, 2011. In addition, the acquisition resulted in an increase in cable homes passed of 9,000.

Rogers also said it paid $40 million dollars.

[Wayne]

This would imply that 5/6 or 83% of Compton's subscribers are digital. Are the numbers similar for Rogers' overall customer base? If so are we getting close to the all-digital transition date for Rogers cable?

[57]

Close to 75%, however, that's not the topic of this thread. Let's keep it on topic.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/2011/04/rogers-cable/