Jersey Shore mom-and-pop motels desert Comcast, join DirecTV

Citing new equipment charges and billing policies, about 20 percent of 150-plus motels in the New Jersey summer resorts the Wildwoods have spurned long-time cable television provider Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) in favor of DirecTV (Nasdaq: DTV), and more are reportedly ready to follow.

"Comcast's fingernails went deeper and deeper into our operations with their boxes and their rates," Steve Tecco, president of the Greater Wildwood Hotel and Motel Association--and himself a motel owner and DirecTV user--said in a story in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The motel owners are complaining that Comcast's recent all-digital move requires them to install a set-top for every in-room TV and that, in some cases, the MSO is requiring summer-only operations to pay year-round for cable.

Comcast spokesman Jeff Alexander took the commercial erosion with a grain of salt and hope, telling the newspaper that the MSO "regret(s) seeing some them look at other options, but believe(s) over time hoteliers will realize the loss of quality and reliability they ad with Comcast. Their current pricing is not only a good value, it's still below the average market pricing for similar services in other areas."

For more:
- the Philadelphia Inquirer has this story

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