Cable, Phone Giants Use Community News to Lure Customers

In the marketing battle between telephone and cable companies, both sides have found a surprisingly simple weapon: local-television offerings such as community news, traffic alerts and weather. Both cable and phone companies are vigorously marketing features such as super-fast Web access and on-demand movies. But investing in local-TV programming, replete with news of school closings and community politics, helps distinguish the companies from rivals to boost customer loyalty -- or steal away subscribers. This summer, Verizon Communications Inc. plans to launch its own local TV channel in New York City, according to people familiar with the matter. The move is a response to Cablevision Systems Corp. and Time Warner Cable. Their round-the-clock local news channels, News 12 and New York One, have helped the companies keep some customers in Long Island and New York City from bolting for Verizon. "Local-interest stories are the ones that people cling to and watch," said John Harrobin, vice president of digital media at Verizon.