"company famous for engaging in less-than-forthright contest practices and perpetually finding ways to perturb subscribers"...yes, perfectly stated. If they could apply the same effort to customer relations as they do to alienating us they would be wonderful. They have taken the "screw you" attitude to new heights. I was in the Burbank office the other day...around twenty-five people in line and two windows open. And phone tech support? Forget it. When my Internet connect quit working, the tech rep tried having me change my IE security settings...the same settings I've had for years. Yikes. I am considering changing to satellite, but I suspect all providers are the same. And these conditions go beyond cable companies...the new model is sell the product and offer litter to no support, and what you do offer, make it useless. To them, the cost of a few lost customers is cheaper than hiring competent help and servicing the customer as if they matter.