Coda

Verizon to Pay N.J. Toll

Trenton, N.J. — Verizon Communications will pay New Jersey $795,000 to settle the state’s lawsuit alleging the telco used “deceptive and misleading” marketing, sales, billing and customer-service practices related to its FiOS services.

The telco also will provide $50 gift cards to the 1,160 customers who complained to the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs to resolve the lawsuit, which was filed in March 2009.

The state charged that Verizon failed to provide advertised promotional gifts — including flat-screen HDTVs — when consumers signed up for FiOS service. The lawsuit also alleged that Verizon charged consumers higher prices for service than prices quoted in door-to-door solicitations and ads, and charged activation fees after consumers were told that such fees would be waived.

Verizon’s $795,000 payment to the state includes civil penalties and reimbursement of attorneys’ fees and investigative costs. The company made no admissions of liability or wrongdoing in entering into the settlement.

Under the terms of the settlement, the consumers who complained may cancel their FiOS service without an early termination fee. Verizon also has agreed to retain for one year, at its own expense, a consumer-affairs liaison who will assess the company’s compliance with the terms of the settlement and submit quarterly reports to the state.

“Companies must deliver services at the terms advertised and represented to consumers,” New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram said in a statement. “This settlement demonstrates Verizon’s commitment to do right by its customers and to adhere to our consumer protection laws and regulations.

Asked to comment, Verizon manager of media relations Rich Young said that the “vast majority of the issues brought to the state’s attention were related to the early deployment of FiOS service in New Jersey — in some cases, nearly three years ago.” He said the complaints represented a very small fraction of the total number of FiOS TV customers in the state and that Verizon has worked with the state to address the complaints.

— Todd Spangler

CAB: Cable Ad Sales on Rise

New York — The Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau said last week that it expects year-over-year ad-sales growth for national cable networks in 2009 to rise 1.8% from 2008, to some $18.7 billion in total.

The cable-advertising group said that figure would be some $330 million more than 2008’s total of $18.4 billion in overall cable ad-sales. In a release, the CAB also called the uptick “significant in an environment of across-the-board ad-sales declines among all other major U.S. media.”

According to CAB, the overall ad sector saw double-digit declines of 13% to 15% year over year.

“As 2009 ad budgets were under intense scrutiny, we did a lot of work with agencies and advertisers on cable’s gains in original programming, ratings and reach analysis and multiscreen insights,” CAB CEO Sean Cunningham said in a statement. “So having cable’s branded networks counted on even more heavily by 2009 national advertisers was extremely gratifying.”

In terms of the 2009-10 upfront, cable networks saw their overall volume decrease by 13% from 2008, to some $6.6 billion. The CAB said the downturn reflected advertisers shifting money to the scatter market, particularly in the inventory-rich fourth quarter.

The upfront also saw cable networks reach a new high in terms of deals with branded multimedia components, as 20% of all deals extended beyond TV ad inventory, the CAB reported. Its full-year projections stuck strictly to TV time, however.

The CAB added that 2009 marked the eighth consecutive year of ad-sales growth for national basic-cable networks, adding that the segment has grown 60% from $11.7 billion in 2001 to $18.7 billion in 2009.

Cox Las Vegas Deals 50-Mbps Internet

Las Vegas — Cox Communications here is launching Ultimate Internet, a 50 Megabits-per-second service touted as providing the fastest Internet speeds in the state of Nevada. It is the sixth market in which the MSO has commercially rolled out DOCSIS 3.0 technology.

Cox’s primary telco competitor in Vegas is CenturyLink (formerly Embarq), which offers digital subscriber line service with a top speed of 10 Mbps. The cable operator said it would “conduct a side-by-side” speed test of Ultimate Internet vs. “a common speed of 1 Mbps and the key local competitor’s top speed of 10 Mbps” at a launch event.

Cox also offers the 50-Mbps tier, with 5 Mbps upstream, in Louisiana, Northern Virginia, New England (Rhode Island), Phoenix and Orange County, Calif. (Palos Verdes).

The Ultimate Internet service will be available to all Cox residential and business customers within its Southern Nevada footprint. The company said business customers should contact the Cox Business office in Las Vegas for pricing information. For residential subscribers, Ultimate Internet is $119.99 per month.

— Todd Spangler

Ski Channel Lands on RCN

Pacific Palisades, Calif. — The Ski Channel said it has reached a distribution deal with overbuilder RCN for carriage of its video-on-demand service.

The channel will launch on RCN’s on-demand offerings in Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Washington, D.C., New York City and Lehigh Valley, Penn. Ski Channel chairman and CEO Steve Bellamy said the deal comes in advance of what the network believes will be the best ski and snowboard season on record.

“There are more skiers per capita in these markets than nearly anywhere else in the country,” Bellamy said in a statement. “As this is going to be an incredible ski season, we look forward to deeper penetration into these areas with such a heavy concentration of skiers.”

— R. Thomas Umstead

Oasis Inks Charter, Cox

Los Angeles — Upstart personal growth and lifestyle channel Oasis TV has reached distribution deals with Cox Communications and Charter Communications for carriage of its personal growth and healthy lifestyles-oriented on-demand service.

Cox will launch Oasis TV to 3.3 million households covering 20 television markets, including Phoenix, San Diego, Las Vegas, New Orleans, Cleveland and Orange County, Calif.

Charter will offer the service — which provides 15 hours of VOD programming a month — to 2.7 million of its subscribers in several markets, including St. Louis; Fort Worth, Texas; and Long Beach, Calif.

— R. Thomas Umstead

BBCA Wins News Emmy

New York — BBC America last week received a Business & Financial Reporting Emmy award for “Return to White Horse Village.” The BBC World News America report, featuring the BBC’s Carrie Gracie, examined the effects of urbanization on a Chinese farming village.

CNBC and History also copped a statuette each for outstanding promotional announcements, at a ceremony in New York City.

Other Emmy winners included CBS (which received four nods) and PBS (which took home two).