In the first quarter of this year Time Warner took in $1.1 billion in revenues for cable internet service, compared to the $33 million it cost them to provide the service. Why won't they use the remaining $1.067 billion to upgrade their shitty network to DOCSIS 3.0?

6/19/2009 9:59:28 PM

this thread has lies in it. guess where.

6/19/2009 10:21:11 PM

6/19/2009 10:41:12 PM

^Those are total years for 2007 and 2008. My post is one quarter.

http://consumerist.com/5236057/metered-broadband-a-necessity-twcs-financial-statements-dont-think-so

Quote :

"• TWC's revenues from broadband during the first three months of this year rose 11% percent over the first quarter of 2008, climbing from $994 million to $1.1 billion. • At the same time, TWC's costs to provide broadband service to its customers dropped 18%, from $40 million to $33 million. That dramatic drop in costs came even though its number of subscribers grew from 7.9 million to 8.6 million."

[Edited on June 19, 2009 at 10:48 PM. Reason : ]

6/19/2009 10:46:43 PM

I don't like TWC any more than the next guy, but their ROE is down in the negative range. There are other costs, many other costs, associated with doing business. It's terribly disingenuous to list that 33 million number next to revenue.

Just look at their financials

http://investing.businessweek.com/businessweek/research/stocks/financials/financials.asp?ric=TWC&dataset=incomeStatement&period=Q¤cy=US%20Dollar

2.127 BILLION cost of goods sold. I can only imagine the 33 million is the network transport charges and maybe the electricity required to run the main hubs (or whatever they are called).

Then they have an additional .7 billion SG&A and another .7 billion Depreciation.

This leaves them a whopping 759 million. But then they get whacked another 293 million interest on their loans. Then there are investments, one time charges, and TAXES. After it is all said and done, they are left with a stellar 164 million out of that initial 4 billion in revenue.

You can look at their cash flow if you are interested in more details.



[Edited on June 19, 2009 at 11:11 PM. Reason : .]

6/19/2009 10:59:32 PM

That they rake in 3000% markup on broadband is an absolute reality. Not my fault they can't manage money. Without reading the report my guess is they're losing a shit ton of money on their cable TV business.

^That includes their cable TV operation

[Edited on June 19, 2009 at 11:15 PM. Reason : ]

6/19/2009 11:09:05 PM

how would you suggest they bring in money to pay for their infrastructure.....

6/19/2009 11:18:36 PM

Can you show me this 3000%? I'm looking for it myself, but you obviously have the number.

As far as net income goes, they are right in line with the average for their industry. Are you suggesting that everyone else in their industry doesn't know how to manage their money either?

6/19/2009 11:23:39 PM

Recent article about broadband costs, penetration, etc:

http://arstechnica.com/telecom/news/2009/06/report-broadband-up-in-2009-for-seniors-low-income-groups.ars

Interesting graph from the article:



Another interesting graph from the article:



Another article comparing US broadband to other countries':

http://arstechnica.com/old/content/2008/05/broadband-other-countries-do-it-better-but-how.ars

[Edited on June 20, 2009 at 9:34 AM. Reason : ]

6/20/2009 9:23:11 AM

TWC and Comcast merger to try to charge people for watching tv online.

http://gigaom.com/2009/06/23/comcast-time-warner-team-up-to-control-internet-video/

6/24/2009 2:27:00 PM

seems i remember something about that being illegal... not that i really trust twc anyway

6/24/2009 7:41:57 PM

Given TW and TWC have split, and the shareholders finally paid out per the most recent 10-Q, the financial statements prior to this point aren't going to hold a whole lot of weight. I'm hoping the split will actually allow TWC to improve their service.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/30/AR2008043003705.html

Quote :

"Instead, much of Time Warner Cable's free cash has been flowing back into its parent company's coffers. After the spinoff, Time Warner Cable can operate independently and Time Warner can concentrate on its content businesses, which include Warner Bros. movie and television studios; Time Inc. publications; HBO and Turner Broadcasting, home of CNN. "

Although a bit biased of a statement, when your free cash flow gets diverted in a business due to powers beyond your control, you are pretty much screwed when it comes to trying to do anything else. I'm not putting too much faith into a radical turnaround by TWC, but, I am putting more faith than previous. (Hint: Look at their digital phone service for where their short-term investments will be immediately placed).

[Edited on June 25, 2009 at 8:58 AM. Reason : .]

6/25/2009 8:42:56 AM