Time Warner Cable Ponders Renaming Itself
Time Warner Cable has been officially separated from Time Warner Inc. since last March.
Now, the cable operator might be cutting one of the last symbolic ties to its erstwhile parent: The MSO is considering renaming itself in a initiative code-named “Project Mercury,” Dow Jones Newswires reports. (Not sure if this is the allusion, but the Mercury Project was NASA’s first manned-flight program.)
A Time Warner Cable spokesman confirmed that the company is having a high-level “discussion” internally about a name change but said it’s still too early to say if or when that would happen. A new name would help distinguish Time Warner Cable from the media company (not to mention give the ambiguous “TWC” decisively to The Weather Channel).
Project Mercury was initially planned for completion in the second half of 2010, but that target has recently been pushed back, according to Dow Jones, which noted that Time Warner Cable is under no contractual obligation to rename itself.
Until we find out more, here are some ideas for a new name:
- Road Runner Cable
- Get Tough Corporation [or should that be RollOver Inc.? Maybe they’ll let customers “decide.”]
- Start Over LLC
- Bandwidth Ltd.
- Oceanic [what the heck, it works so well in the Aloha State, take it to the mainland!]
- Full Service Network [but then, with “FSN,” you have the confusion with the regional Fox Sports Nets]
- Mystro!
- Adelphia Communications [yes, that’s a joke, although according to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, Time Warner Cable Inc. is listed as the current owner of the trademark on “Adelphia”]
Any other suggestions? Post ‘em below.
Roller Over B.S. commented:
How about Rollerover Bullsh**ter Cable. Penn and Tell and be their new faces of their marketing endeavors. The can tell you Bullsh**t and then raise your bill 6-12 per cent each year.
Decker Sachs commented:
Only one choice-- F*** The Customer Cable
eddy commented:
personally i believe twc will be renaming themselves verizon in the future. they would spinoff the northeast ops to brighthouse and give verizon a more national footprint. at&t goes a different direction and buys directv.
consolidation is going to come roaring back faster than we anticipate.
adman commented:
OBGYN TV
PR Bob commented:
Todd - you are so creative and this piece was funny! But, based on new public affairs initiatives, I'm sure they think about "iConnect;" or "CMM - as in Connect a million minds" or maybe something subtle like "Solutions R Us."
Goldmintz commented:
Britt House Networks.
Or ATC for those that remember...
DCar commented:
Why not go back to the name of its first interactive system "Qube."
Brendan commented:
Getting "cable" out of company brand name would help. "Cable" is a tired id with negative connotations. I think Cablevision in particular in the NY market has benefitted by going with the "Optimum" brand to the public. Hi-tech and progressive sounding is the way to go.
Paul commented:
Thinking more about "Independence Cable," I picture the logo to be something like a lower case "i" stylized to look like the mast of a flag pole, with a patriotic looking flag flying high from it. The "i" could also represent "inventive" or "interactive" or "internet" and draw from the success of "i" prefix in naming multimedia devices. This is, after all, be a television, telephone and Internet company.
coldout commented:
How about Connexus - one of the original names for Road Runner?
Paul commented:
Additionally, the stock ticker for "IC" is not yet taken from what I can tell...
Paul commented:
How about "Independence Cable"? It alludes to TWC's separation from Time Warner Inc. while simultaneously hinting at patriotism (defined as "love and support for oneʼs country"). I envision a new Independence Cable logo displayed proudly in all it's red, white and blue glory.
MagicbyMark commented:
Verizonot
Noncast
Charterless
UnCablevision
Fastguys commented:
Time Warner Cable should be rename as Slow Customer Service Cable
rmorillo commented:
I'd call it "Please-Hold-for-the-Next-Available-Customer-Service-Representative Cable, Inc."
ScotsmansKilt commented:
Not a moment too soon for Time Warner shareholders, whose stock has been punished by the recent bad publicity over the Fox threat to pull programming from Time Warner Cable. You'd think headline writers and Wall Street investors would be smart enough to make the distinction. But they're not.