Message from Lynne Costantini – President, Business Development:
Your support of TheBlaze over the past few weeks has been phenomenal! You are by far, the most engaged and loyal audience in America. Thank you!
Despite the fact that you’ve made 31,000 phone calls, sent over 85,000 emails, filled out thousands of online channel request forms, tweeted tens of thousands of times, and posted tens of thousands of messages on their Facebook pages, TV providers don’t seem to be taking your polite and persistent requests to add TheBlaze seriously.
xSo we have to ask: “Are they listening???”
According to the Dictionary, “LISTEN” means “to pay attention to”, “to hear something with thoughtful attention”; “to give consideration”; “to be alert to”.
Here’s what they are saying to us and to you….Are they giving you lip service or are they listening? We’ll leave it to you to decide.
DIRECTV:
“….we are always in discussions with programmers about which channels to add to the DIRECTV lineup, but have no plans to add The Blaze Network at this time. Thank you.”
“We’ve gotten a bunch of letters…. , but we don’t see that there’s much demand.”
Time Warner Cable:
“Thanks for your input. As you probably know, we’re constantly evaluating new networks for carriage on our lineup. You should know that Blaze TV already makes its programming available to interested customers, for a fee, online.”
“We’ve gotten a bunch of calls and some letters, but not enough interest to make a difference.”
Suddenlink:
“A number of you have expressed interest in TheBlaze. There are several options for viewing this network, detailed here: http://www.video.theblaze.com/about/how_to_watch.jsp…..”
“Due to budget and bandwidth constraints, we’re not adding channels until 2015.”
Bright House Networks:
“Thank you for your Blaze channel request. Channel requests can be made by contacting us here:http://www.brighthouse.com/corporate/support/contact”
AT&T UVERSE:
“Hi, we’re glad to hear you’ve filled out our survey and we’ll be sure to let you know if we have any news to report! Thanks!”
“Thanks for the suggestion! Be sure to request [TheBlaze] using our online channel survey athttp://uverse.us/ChannelSurvey.
Cox
“Hi thanks for your suggestion [to add TheBlaze]. Since customer demand is the largest factor in the decision to add more channels to our lineup, I’ve submitted your request to our programming team.”
Verizon
“we’re currently tracking requests for The Blaze channel and appreciate you taking the time to register here:http://vz.to/TheBlaze.”
Charter
“You can submit a request for that channel by filling out this form: http://Charter.com/ChannelRequest. Our Product and Marketing teams review the requests to determine which channels to add.”
“We’re not meeting with or adding new independent channels at this time……”
Sadly, most of your posts, emails are online requests are simply being ignored. Are they listening or just collecting data?
This week we’ll be talking to Comcast. As you know, they own MSNBC, NBC News, and will soon carry Al Jazeera America. We sure hope that their liberal bias doesn’t get in the way of them making a smart business decision to add a channel that balances out this bias and gives their customers more choice.
It’s hard to believe that the thousands of messages and interactions you’ve had with TV providers are not enough to prove that there’s demand. Are they “alert”? And it’s even more surprising that they are sending their valuable customers to watch TheBlaze online when you’ve told them you want to watch it on television. Are they “hearing you with thoughtful attention?”
Pay TV providers seems to think that the interest you have expressed so far in such incredible numbers is nothing more that some “once and done” marketing gimmick. Are they “paying attention”?
They obviously don’t understand your commitment or the size of this audience. They don’t understand that you’re not okay with paying the kind of money you pay each month for their service and not having a say in what you can watch. It’s bad enough that you are forced to pay for expensive sports channels that you don’t watch and didn’t ask for. They need to understand that you’re not okay being forced to pay for channels like MSNBC, CNN or Al Jazeera America and that you want TheBlaze on cable and satellite television because this is a network that represents your values. Are they “giving you due consideration”?
Why aren’t they listening to you? It’s your money … don’t you deserve a choice?
As we said when we launched our “Get The Blaze” campaign a few short weeks ago, this is going to be a long fight and one that tests our resolve, but it’s a fight we are going to win.
We need to continue to help TV providers understand that we’re not going away until they add TheBlaze to their channel line-ups!
So I guess we have to crank up the volume, because they don’t seem to be listening to you!
Let’s throw down the gauntlet and make enough noise so that our voices do make a difference to them! Let’s not be ignored.
Today we’re asking you to get back on the phone and politely ask “Are You Listening?” Let them know you want TheBlaze included in the programming package you pay for and you intend to keep calling until they make it happen.
It seems as though the emails you’re are sending are not being read or are collecting dust in a pile somewhere in some offshore call center, so we’re asking you to call. If you call, they have to answer the phone, listen and respond. If they are not responsive, ask to speak to a supervisor. And don’t take “no” for an answer!
Ask them: Are you listening? Do it now!
If you can’t call, send them an email.
And while you’re at it, go to their Facebook page and post the message there – “Are You Listening? I want TheBlaze on TV!”
Let’s make sure TV providers know that you’re willing to make your voices heard until they launch TheBlaze. Together we can make our shared values available to more people on television.
To make your connections just go to gettheblaze.com …we’ll connect you to your provider or you can call 1-800-996-2529 that’s 1-800-996-2529.
Thank you for your dedication and support!
“The most basic of all human needs is the need to understand and be understood. The best way to understand people is to listen to them.”
― Ralph G. Nichols