NEWSBREAKERS
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CABLE COMPANY URGED JOURNALISTS TO SEARCH REGION FOR SATELLITE CUSTOMERS

ROCHESTER, NY- (March 22, 2005) - Time Warner Cable asked journalists to turn in the names and addresses of local residents who subscribe to satellite television service. 

In a memo obtained by NEWSBREAKERS, the cable company asked employees at R News, which is owned by Time Warner, to help provide 4,000 new sales leads in the greater Rochester area. The cable giant offered a trip and merchandise to the employee whose participation led to the most new leads. A copy of the memo is available at www.newsbreakers.org/Releases.htm.

Time Warner provided a list of confidential techniques to help gather information in neighborhoods with satellite subscribers. 

"If driving while looking, search one side of the street at a time, turn around, drive down the street the other way and search the other side," the memo said. 

Time Warner Cable is the sole provider of cable television service in Rochester. It provides high-speed Internet access and has recently branched out into phone service. The company has come under criticism in recent years for routine rate hikes.

It is unknown if any R News employees participated in the Time Warner program. 

NEWSBREAKERS is a nonpartisan media watchdog organization. 

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