Competition for Cable Customers Turns Nasty

The battle for a larger share of TV customers has taken a nasty turn as companies like Time Warner, DirecTV, and Verizon hone ad campaigns highlighting rivals' shortcomings, the Wall Street Journal reports. It's not the first time operators have taken shots at each other, but it signals a ramping-up of marketing wars as the industry gets more crowded.

Telcos AT&T and Verizon are spending big to horn in on cable, offering triple-play packages of phone, cable TV, and high-speed Internet. The competition is forcing cable to spend more to keep existing customers and acquire new ones, while telcos, with their nascent offerings, work to replace deteriorating landline business with high-profit, higher-tech products. (More Time Warner Cable stories.)