SNL comedian blasts Time Warner Cable over Twitter

Being a celebrity doesn’t make you immune to bad service from cable and Internet providers, apparently.

“Saturday Night Live’s” head writer and “Weekend Update” host Colin Jost proved that by blasting Time Warner Cable over Twitter earlier this week. The comedian engaged his Twitter followers by re-tweeting and replying to their complaints and stories about the company, which happens to be the dominant cable provider in the Charlotte region.

Here’s a sampling of Jost’s hours-long rant. Other not-so-suitable-for-work tweets make mention of Osama bin Laden, Mussolini and Satan (again.)

Jost even jests that he would pay his followers $50 if they switch to another provider and send photographic evidence.

The comedian isn’t alone in his distaste for Time Warner Cable. The company was recently ranked at the bottom of cable and Internet companies surveyed by the American Consumer Satisfaction Index, though satisfaction with its Internet services has improved slightly since last year.

The company plans to roll out faster Internet speeds and improved television services for Charlotte-area customers this summer. It’s already begun the process of switching its cable customers to all-digital services, a transition that’s drawn criticism because it means many customers have to get new digital adapters and may face higher monthly bills.

Last month, Charter Communications announced it intends to buy Time Warner Cable for about $55 billion. The merger would quadruple Charter’s subscriber base and create the second-biggest cable provider.

New York-based Time Warner Cable serves about 480,000 customers in the Charlotte area.

This story was originally published June 19, 2015 at 8:00 AM with the headline "SNL comedian blasts Time Warner Cable over Twitter."