After reading beachwriter429's rescued diary requesting action to protest Comcast cable's decision to make MSNBC harder and more expensive than Fox News in Jacksonville FL-- and possibly other locations-- I sent an email and got a reply. I don't know how seriously to take Comcast's disclaimer of evil intent, but it does look like the campaign managed to rattle their cage.
Both emails after the jump.
Here's what I wrote
I am currently a Comcast customer; I pay about a hundred dollars a month for cable TV and broadband. I have been considering adding telephone.
If access to the disgusting and really evil Fox News channel is advantaged in any way over MSNBC, I will have to move to Fairpoint for phone and broadband, and satellite for TV.
It takes a lot to make me change something that's working. I had Adelphia for years and years. I greatly preferred their presence on the corporate scene to yours, but I stuck with you despite your horrendous clumsiness during the transition. (I was without broadbqnd for months.) For years I swallowed my irritation over the crappiness of the package I was getting before I finally called and got a better deal.
But I will leave you over this. I would happily trade most of your programming for Rachel Maddow and the Comedy Channel. And, increasingly, there are other ways to get these things.
Their response:
Thank you for the email. First and foremost, I wanted to let you know that today we restored access to MSNBC for all of our digital cable customers in the Jacksonville, Florida area.
Please know that this week's disruption was not at all targeted at MSNBC - it was due to some changes to our digital channel security system. This system ensures customers receive the channels that are part of the video package to which they subscribe. This issue was isolated to the Jacksonville area, and we have no reason to believe that Comcast customers in any other areas experienced any interruptions of MSNBC.
Also, moving forward, we will be notifying customers that MSNBC will become part of the Digital Starter service in the Jacksonville area. Digital Starter is our most widely available level of digital service. Customers who have our full basic video service can contact us to receive Digital Starter, which is priced the same as our full basic video service and includes one digital set-top box at no additional cost.
Thank you again for bringing this issue to our attention.