TWC Yields on AT&T Advertising Complaint

By MCN Staff -- Multichannel News, 3/8/2010 10:22:00 AM

NEW YORK — Time Warner Cable said it will “curtail” the use of the word “free” in advertising its HD service and stopped running ads claiming that AT&T requires U-verse customers to sign long-term contracts, following the telco’s complaint to the Council of Better Business Bureaus.

The National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus recommended Time Warner Cable discontinue claims to off er “free HD” service. The NAD said the cable company has been promoting “free HD” for nearly two years and that what had been the discounted price has become the actual price for the entire purchase of both its regular service and HDTV; as such, HD can no longer be considered “free.”

TWC also said it would “take NAD’s recommendations into consideration in future advertising.”