Local satellite dish installers say they've heard from angry cable television viewers before, but this week has been something else.
The backlash against Charter Communications' channel shuffle and rate hike — announced Aug. 11 and to take effect four days later — was intensified when the cable television provider for Jackson and Josephine counties failed to get the word by mail to subscribers before Tuesday's changes.
"I'm getting 25 or 30 calls and about 10 orders a day right now," said Terry Pollard of Jackson County Satellite, who generally installs about two satellite systems a day. "The phone rings all the time and I got hoarse from talking all day. By 8:30 or 9 (Thursday night) I had to turn the phone off because I couldn't talk any more."
Reaching the half-dozen or so local satellite installers who provide the hardware for Dish Network and DirecTV programming this week required patience many television viewers had lost in dealing with Charter Communications.
"If they would've sent out notices a week in advance, that would've helped," said Pollard, who helped his dad install rooftop TV antennas 40 years ago. "They're angry and this has forced them to do something. I know a lot of the cable guys and they're just good working people. But over the years, they haven't built a good rapport with the people, they just don't like the cable company. Any little thing seems to get to them and this was like the last straw. Of course it's been good for our business."
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"It's been nuts," Blue said. "And 90 percent of the customers are coming in because of cable."
Viewers feel so disenfranchised they are willing to fork over more money in some cases than if they had stayed with Charter. In many cases, they'll be paying less and getting more.
"They're pretty much all saying the same things," Blue said. "(Charter) took away their favorite channels without telling them, raised their price and gave them channels they didn't want. They're dropping cable because they have other options. Some are willing to pay more just to get rid of cable, just because they're ticked off."
Charter Communication's recent marketing efforts have encouraged viewers to avoid satellite hook-ups.
"We hate to lose customers for any reason, but that's what competition is about and we can stand up to competition," said Mike O'Herron, Charter Communication's Southern Oregon area general manager. "Every product has advantages and disadvantages. Certainly we still have a much larger share of viewers than satellite."
If push comes to shove, Charter does what it can to retain customers — especially those buying premium programming.
"We tell our customers we hate to lose you and ask if there's something we can do to change their minds," O'Herron said. "We have incentives for such situations, depending on the service, price and package."
O'Herron said that the deluge of calls received this week was primarily because of Charter's communication breakdown, rather than the channel changes and a bottom-tier price change.
"We didn't communicate as well as we should've and that caused frustration and confusion," O'Herron said. "We're sorry and nobody would do that intentionally."
To put it into perspective, it would take 540 defections for Charter Communications to lose 1 percent of its 54,000-subscriber base in Jackson and Josephine counties.
"They're hoping this will settle down and people will think twice," Pollard said. "Once people find that satellite offers local channels and a lot more programming at a generally lower price, they're interested. Less than 1 percent return to cable once they get satellite."
Once considered a viable alternative only in rural areas beyond cable's reach, satellite TV blossomed with the advent of smaller dishes in the 1990s. As of June, DirecTV had 15.4 million subscribers and Dish Network more than 12 million. In 2004, first Dish Network and then DirecTV added Medford local broadcast affiliates to their channel lineups.
"Initially, the cable industry denied that satellite was competition," Blue said. "But at this point, there is no question satellite has brought competition to the marketplace for television services."
Blue remembers another cable line-up revision a few years ago that stirred the viewer pot, but didn't create the uproar Tuesday's changes did.
"It's amazing how important TV is to people," Blue said. "A few dollars in pricing makes all the difference in the world. I imagine it will still be this way the next few days. The ones really watching TV are coming now and the ones that watch on the weekends will come over Monday."
He said operating a satellite system at home is a little more complex than cable, but not overly difficult.
"It is a little more sophisticated but not impossible to figure out, using a regular remote to change a channel," Blue said. "Anything new, people have to take the time to learn, but they're willing to learn because they're so irritated."
Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 776-4463 or at business@mailtribune.com
