CABLE TV Service Discontinuation Notice

11/31/2023

The short version

Effective January 1, 2024, Ashland Home Net will exit the CABLE TV business.

You are one of the few remaining CABLE TV customers on our network. We want to keep you as an Internet service customer if at all possible. Please consider joining the thousands of others that have already migrated to streaming TV services via Hulu or YouTube TV.

Benefits to you.

1. You get 4K content on many channels for your big screen TV.  Amazing HI DEF quality.

2. You still get Local channels for news, weather, etc.

3. You get more channels, more options for less money per month.

4. You can pause live tv.

5. You can record any show and watch it later.

6. You can watch thousands of non live shows from their streaming libraries just like Netflix.

7. One app has all the channels. You don’t have to jump from app channel to app channel.

If you don’t think streaming is for you, you can also switch from CABLE TV to Dish or Direct TV. This will give you the old set top box and remote control you are used to and let you keep your internet service on AFN and with us.

Starting December 1 we will have set up a TV in our office with both Hulu and Youtube TV running on it and invite you to come see and feel the difference.

Dena and I use Hulu at home and we love it.

We know change is hard and we held on to CABLE TV for as long as we could but the time is now for several reasons we list below if you want to know more.

Thank you for being a customer of ours. We really appreciate it. With your support, we not only grew to the largest internet service provider based in Ashland, but we have been able to give back to everything we all love about Ashland from parades, arts, education and community well being.

We continue to believe AFN is important to Ashland and hope you continue to support a locally owned and operated service.

We also hope this letter gives you enough time to not panic and come by our office and see first hand what the future of TV looks and feels like. We are here to help you transition.

Jim Teece and Dena Matthews

Local Owners and Operators

Ashland Home Net

P.S. If you decide to switch to Charter/Spectrum for Cable TV, there may be a chance that you can still keep AFN for the internet if your cable is run in the air from the pole or in a newer neighborhood where each provider has their own conduit.

The long version.

Dena and I did not make this decision in a vacuum or quickly. Several things happened this year that forced us to re-evaluate our CABLE TV portion of our business.

The COOP we used to get channels quickly went bankrupt.

We shared with you earlier this year that the COOP we used to get a majority of our channels from went bankrupt almost overnight and shut down. We had to go back to negotiating and signing contracts with each channel directly. This was a very negative experience for us. We enjoyed dealing with one company instead of each of the channel providers directly who frankly do not care about small cable providers and our customers. They demand outrageous fees that we would have to pass on to you, which we do not like doing.

Randy, our amazing CABLE TV network manager, is retiring in 2024.

He has worked with us for many years and has done a great job keeping our CABLE TV operation running smoothly, but he would like to retire fully in 2024.

The number of CABLE TV customers has dwindled over the years.

You are one of the last remaining customers on CABLE TV.

As with all small cable tv operations, more and more customers have cut the cord and gone full streaming for TV content. TV hasn’t gone away, it just changed. The reason that the COOP went out of business is that their customers were getting out of the CABLE TV business just like we are for the same reasons.

We do not want to lose you as a customer.

We held on to CABLE TV as a loss leader for many years, because we wanted to keep you as an internet customer. Broadband is the future.

We are not going out of business.

Most of our customers are AFN internet customers. It’s what we do best. In fact in 2024 we will be partnering with the city to roll out fiber to the homes in Ashland and we are very excited about that.

We have worked with the city on this transition

We are AFN’s largest business partner and they are ours. We let them know immediately when the COOP failed. We wanted to get their feedback on options and ideas. We wanted to make sure we did not have panic or a mass exodus to Charter/Spectrum from our announcement. They are supportive and appreciative of this one time event. It will allow us both to focus on the future of AFN, which is bringing fiber to the home starting in 2024.

How much does it cost to switch to Hulu?

It varies.

But they have it advertised right now to Get Hulu + Live TV, Disney+ and ESPN+, all with ads, for $76.99/month with no fees. They do  charge $9.99/month more for sports packages.

We currently charge $92.99 plus fees  and that price would have to go up significantly in 2024 just to break even.

None of that money will come to Ashland Home Net. You pay them directly and you can cancel easily at any time.

• Get unlimited access to the Hulu (With Ads) streaming library
• Live TV with 90+ channels of sports, news, and more. No cable required
• Endless entertainment with Disney+. Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and Nat Geo all in one place
• Stream live sports, exclusive originals, the full 30 for 30 library, and more with ESPN+
• Stream on your favorite devices

How much does it cost to switch to YouTube TV?

It varies.

It starts at $72.99 a month and also provides access to NFL Sunday Ticket which you can also do stand alone.

YouTube TV has a 4K plus package for $9.99 a month that adds unlimited streaming in the house and the ability to watch shows recorded offline, while you’re traveling.

What local channels are not on HULU or YouTube TV?

Currently RVTV is not available on either service, but they are streaming on https://rvtv.sou.edu/ for free.

Is it different?

Absolutely. If you have a smart TV you can download the app for your service and log in with your account once, and you are ready to go. You can use your smart TV remote but you navigate using the interface not numbers on your remote control.

That is the biggest difference.

Do I need to upgrade my internet speed?

Not necessarily. Dena and I have our Rogue Broadband Wireless service at home (We live by Emigrant Lake), and we stream 4K Hulu shows and sports just fine.

Hulu recommends 3 Mbps for Hulu’s Streaming Library, 8 Mbps for live streams, and 16 Mbps for 4K content.

Remember as well, we are partnering with the city to rollout fiber to the home in 2024. The prices are not set yet but there is discussion of keeping prices the same and just offering amazing speeds via fiber.

How can I see it in action?

Come by our office starting December 1st for a no pressure demo of both services. We are trying to get Dish and Direct TV services as well.