Stations situated on the southwestern coast of Florida are hustling to keep viewers informed of Hurricane Ian’s frightful trip through the area. That includes stations in Tampa-St. Petersburg (Sarasota), which is DMA No. 13, and Fort Myers-Naples, which is DMA No. 54.

Stations are streaming live to keep users up to date. At WFLA.com just after 3 p.m. ET, meteorologist Jeff Berardelli stressed that Ian was “about to make landfall,” and mentioned wind gusts in the region reaching over 100 mph.

The story changed minutes later. Over in Fort Myers, a live story on WINKNews.com reported that the National Hurricane Center said Ian made landfall at 3:10 p.m. A reporter then shared that station power had gone out, with WINK shifting to a backup generator.

Fort Myers Broadcasting Co. owns WINK.

Part of Nexstar Media Group, the WFLA Tampa website reported that Gov. Ron DeSantis labeled Ian “just shy of a Category 5 hurricane,” and added that the storm would be “incredibly dangerous.”

Elsewhere in Tampa, WTVT meteorologist Dave Osterberg added some perspective to Ian striking Florida. “We don’t expect the track to change,” he said. “The biggest storm surge will come to the right of where it makes landfall. Say it makes landfall in Port Charlotte, then you're going to see this big wall of water coming up into the Fort Myers, Cape Coral, North Fort Myers, up into these rivers. That's going to be a problem — 10-15 feet storm surge for those folks.”

Fox owns WTVT, known as Fox 13. Station newscasts are simulcast on various area radio stations.

Part of Tegna, WTSP Tampa said the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in St. Petersburg has been closed. The station website noted a “life-threatening storm surge.”

Spectrum has Bay News 9 in the Tampa area. The website offers a live chat with meteorologists, and shared a story on a family of nine that had moved to the area three days before, then had to evacuate.

On the WBBH Fort Myers website, there’s a list of power outages by county, with Charlotte County counting 64,440 as of 1:15 p.m. Sept. 28. Known as NBC2, WBBH reports can also be heard on a group of local radio stations.

WBBH also shared that Comcast has free WiFi hotspots for the displaced.

The station is part of Waterman Broadcasting.

Weather.com led with the headline “Landfalling Cat 4 Monster”, which shifted to “Monster Ian Makes Landfall” a short while later. The site reports Ian “making landfall as one of southwest Florida’s most intense hurricanes on record, expected to produce catastrophic storm surge, destructive winds and flooding rainfall.”

Maximum sustained winds are blowing around 155 mph, said Weather.com, and over six feet of storm surge inundation has been measured, more than any other storm in that spot in at least 50 years.

“Hurricane Ian is absolutely pummeling the southwest coast of Florida,” a Weather Channel reporter said. ■

A federal appeals court has agreed to block enforcement of the major provisions of a Florida law targeting social media content moderation. NetChoice and the Computer & Communications Industry Association had sought the preliminary injunction while their legal challenge of the law works its way through the courts.

In a unanimous decision penned by judge Levin Newsom, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit upheld a lower court's injunction against the enforcement of provisions in the law that restrict social media platforms' ability to moderate content and that they have to come up with a "thorough rationale" for all of their content moderation decisions.

The court said both are likely unconstitutional. It declined to block enforcement of the "far less burdensome" requirement of other disclosure provisions, saying the lower court got it wrong when it blocked those as well.

The law was the product of a Republican-controlled legislature. Republicans have argued that Silicon Valley giants have attempted to suppress conservative speech in the guise of moderating their platforms and under the protection of section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which exempts them with civil liability over most of that third-party content.

Asserting that “social media platforms have unfairly censored, shadow-banned, deplatformed and applied post-prioritization algorithms to Floridians,” the law removed civil liability protection for content on Big Tech platforms — like Facebook or Twitter — that violated the law, including allowing for monetary damages up to $250,000 per day for deplatforming political candidates for statewide office, and $25,000 for non-statewide offices.

"The question at the core of this appeal is whether the Facebooks and Twitters of the world — indisputably 'private actors,' with First Amendment rights — are engaged in constitutionally protected expressive activity when they moderate and curate the content that they disseminate on their platforms. The State of Florida insists that they aren’t," Newsom wrote in the panel decision.

By contrast, Newsom said the panel was pretty sure those Big Tech companies were, indeed, private actors engaging in protected speech. ■

Computer companies and edge providers are telling a U.S. Appeals Court that a lower-court judge was right when he blocked implementation of Florida’s content moderation law, concluding it was unconstitutional, and that it should come to the same conclusion.

Also read: Big Tech Sues Florida Over Sec. 230 Law

The Computer and Communications Industry Association and NetChoice teamed up on a brief this week to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which is hearing Florida's challenge to the lower-court judge’s ruling.

They told the appeals court that the law would allow anyone “from a foreign government spreading propaganda to those spreading terrorist content” to sue a platform if it didn’t host their material.

“The District Court properly enjoined Florida’s unprecedented effort to strip online service providers of their constitutionally protected editorial judgment and replace it with the state’s own judgments and preferences,” the brief asserted. “Florida did not conceal the motivation for its novel law: to target certain large online service providers for exercising their editorial judgment in a manner that the state disfavors.”

The law was the product of a Republican-controlled legislature. Republicans have argued that Silicon Valley giants have attempted to suppress conservative speech in the guise of moderating their platforms and under the protection of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which exempts them with civil liability over most of that third-party content.

Asserting that “social media platforms have unfairly censored, shadow-banned, deplatformed and applied post-prioritization algorithms to Floridians,” the law presumes that doing so is not acting in bad faith, which means it is legally actionable. The law removes civil liability protection for content on Big Tech platforms — like Facebook or Twitter — that violates the law, including allowing for monetary damages up to $250,000 per day for deplatforming political candidates for statewide office, and $25,000 for non-statewide offices.

CCIA and NetChoice, whose membership also includes companies like Facebook, Google and Amazon, sued the state, saying that the law would open platforms to suits for content moderation policies designed to protect users’ safety. After the judge agreed to block the law as unconstitutional, Florida challenged that decision in the 11th Circuit.

“Digital services invest in protecting Internet users from dangerous and harmful content and behavior, whether it is extremists glorifying violence against Americans or trolls promoting self-harm, and a federal court has already agreed with us that Florida’s law would thwart those efforts,” CCIA said. “Policymakers shouldn’t guarantee safe spaces online for anti-American extremists, predators, or foreign agents spreading misinformation.”

The E.W. Scripps Co. said it has launched the Florida 24 Network, a new statewide news service available over-the-top in every market in the state.

The station will feature reporting from Scripps TV stations in the market. Scripps has stations in Miami, Tampa, West Palm Beach, Tallahassee and Fort Myers.

“Scripps is committed to serving both long-time Florida residents and newcomers with the authentic and hyperlocal journalism we know is essential to people’s lives,” said Scripps Local Media president Brian Lawlor. “The launch of the Florida 24 Network is the evolution of our long-time commitment to our Florida audiences and advertisers. We know our local business partners are eager to reach TV consumers via OTT.”

The Florida 24 Network will be available everywhere in the state in linear form and on-demand via its OTT app on streaming platforms, including Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV and Android TV and via all Scripps Florida stations’ streaming apps. 

Also Read: Local Now Gets Additional News Programming from Scripps Stations

The network will be led by news director Nicole Wolfe, based at Scripps’ WSFL-TV in Miami, and senior director of digital Matt Borek, based at Scripps’ WFTS-TV, Tampa. 

It will cover politics, tourism, wildlife, beaches, lifestyle and agriculture. Meteorologists from each market will have frequent weather reports, with a focus on storms during hurricane season.

The network will also feature regular updates from Katie LaGrone, Scripps’ statewide investigative reporter and Forrest Saunders, Florida State Capitol reporter in Tallahassee. 

Also Read: E.W. Scripps Plans to Take Over the Air Nets Over the Top

“The pandemic has taught us a lot about the ways in which our newsrooms are able to collaborate to produce high-quality news and information in a remote environment,” said Lawlor. “The Florida 24 Network captures those learnings with the same commitment to essential journalism for which Florida residents have known Scripps for many years.”

Big Tech companies are suing the state of Florida over its recently passed law that limits websites' Sec. 230 immunity from civil liability over third party content, saying it is a speech restriction targeted at select online businesses.

The Computer & Communications Industry Association teamed up with NetChoice, whose membership also includes companies like Facebook, Google and Amazon, saying that the law would open platforms to suits for content moderation policies designed to protect users' safety.

CCIA argued that edge providers have a First Amendment right to protect users including by determining "what material is appropriate for their community."

Also Read: Facebook to D.C. on Sec. 230: Regulate Us, Please

The suit, filed in the U.S. district Court for the Northern District of Florida, seeks to enjoin enforcement of the law, which they said is preempted by Sec. 230, exceeds the state's authority under the Commerce Clause, and is otherwise infirm.

“We are bringing this suit to safeguard the industry’s free speech right to deliver on their commitments to users to mitigate harmful content online," said CCIA president Matt Schruers.

The law, which was passed by the Republican majority legislature and signed earlier this week by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, removes that civil liability protection for Big Tech platforms—like Facebook or Twitter—that violate the law, including allowing for monetary damages up to $250,000 per day for de-platforming political candidates for statewide office, and $25,000 per day for candidates for non-statewide offices.

Also Read: Rep. Cicciline Says Big Tech Power Will Be Curbed

In addition to monetary penalties, the law prevents violators of antitrust law, which the Florida attorney general can pursue under Florida's Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act, from contracting with any public entity, a "blacklist" DeSantis' office said would create "real consequences" for Big Tech "oligopolies."

“We cannot stand idly by as Florida’s lawmakers push unconstitutional bills into law that bring us closer to state-run media and a state-run internet," said Carl Szabo, VP and general counsel of NetChoice.

Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has signed a bill, recently passed by the Republican controlled state legislature, that the governor promotes as a way to stop Big Tech from censoring his citizens.

Republicans have argued that Silicon Valley giants have attempted to suppress conservative speech in the guise of moderating their platforms and under the protection of Sec. 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which exempts them with civil liability over most of that third party content.

The bill's language makes that clear, saying: "Social media platforms have unfairly censored, shadow banned, deplatformed, and applied post-prioritization algorithms to Floridians." The bill presumes that doing so is not acting in bad faith, which means it is legally actionable, and the governor signaled the state's attorney general would act if that were the case.

Also Read: Rep. Cicciline Says Big Tech Power Will Be Curbed

Florida Senate bill 7072 removes that civil liability protection for Big Tech platforms--like Facebook or Twitter--that violate the law, including allowing for for monetary damages up to $250,000 per day for deplatforming political candidates for statewide office, and $25,000 for non-statewide offices.

De Santis said the bill was a way to require transparency to prevent "Big Tech bureaucrats from “moving the goalposts” to silence viewpoints they don’t like."

Also Read: Mark Zuckerberg: Sec. 230 Shield Should Be Tied to Misinformation Mitigation Regime

In addition to monetary penalties, the bill would prevent violators of antitrust law, which the Florida attorney general can pursue under Florida's Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act, from contracting with any public entity, a "blacklist" DeSantis' office said would create "real consequences" for Big Tech oligopolies.

Legislators in Washington have been wrestling with what to do about Sec. 230 and their issues with how Big Tech is moderating content. Democrats, on the one hand, argue that they are not doing enough to deplatform hateful speakers, while Republicans argue they use that power as cover to deplatform conservative speakers whose politics they disagree with.

Also Read: Dems Urge Facebook to Provide Retroactive Disinformation Corrections

So, that while both sides have issues with the Sec. 230 liability protection, what to do about it remains a big question mark. Florida, by contrast, has come up with a big exclamation mark in the form of this bill.

WWE will hold its Wrestlemania 37 event this April in Florida, likely in front of live fans, the organization said Saturday.

The WWE also announced that its 2022 Wrestlemania event will be held in Arlington, Tx. and the 2023 event will take place in Los Angeles.

Wrestlemania 27 will take place on April 10 and April 11 in Tampa Bay's Raymond James Stadium, according to the organization. The move to Florida-- the event was originally slated to be held in Los Angeles -- will give the WWE the opportunity to have live fans attend the event. The organization said it will announce ticket availability and safety protocols for WrestleMania 37 in the coming weeks.

The announcement comes nearly a year after the WWE held its Wrestlemania 36 event without fans in its Orlando studios due to the pandemic. 

Read Also: WWE Extends ‘Wrestlemania’ Event to Two Days 

“On behalf of everyone at WWE, we thank [Florida] Governor DeSantis, [Tampa Bay] Mayor Castor, [Arlington, Tx.] Mayor Williams and [Inglewood, Ca.] Mayor Butts for their graciousness and flexibility in what was a collaborative effort to bring the next three WrestleManias to these iconic stadiums in their world-class cities,” Vince McMahon, WWE Chairman & CEO said in a statement. 

Broadcasting + Cable's Kent Gibbons and Michael Malone talk about long-running shows, such as Supernatural and Grey's Anatomy, Netflix's The Queen's Gambit, Hulu's A Teacher and CBS's The Price Is Right.

Kent Gibbons and Michael Malone talk about the odd fall season, shows set in Florida, new Halloween programming, and more.

As the election approaches, all eyes shift to Florida to see what sort of weirdness the state comes up with as the nation decides on its president. But anyone who watches TV these days has seen plenty of weirdness out of Florida already. The state leads the nation in bizarre people and peculiar events, making it a logical place to set an offbeat series. 

Like Claws. The TNT dramedy depicts women working in a nail salon in Manatee County, Florida, that is a front for sketchy mobsters looking to launder cash. The salon’s clients, including a woman who sells deer meat out of her trunk, are unique to say the least. 

Claws creator Eliot Laurence said he always had Florida in mind for the setting. “There’s insanity everywhere, but there’s something about the Floridian version,”
he said. Claws is set in Florida due to “my love of weirdness and my attraction to the state of Florida being the weirdest place,”
he added. 

Is that a fair assessment of the Sunshine State? Most definitely, said Craig Pittman, author of Oh, Florida! How America’s Weirdest State Influences the Rest of the Country. “Oh my gosh, we’re the weirdest state by far,” said Pittman, who hosts the podcast Welcome to Florida. “More happens in Florida day by day, and the weird stuff just happens to be weirder.”

Wide Range of Sunny Settings 

Shows that have trafficked in Florida’s weirdness include Claws, Showtime’s On Becoming a God in Central Florida, Pop TV’s Florida Girls and MTV’s unscripted Floribama Shore and Siesta Key. Shows have long been set in Florida, including, of course, Miami Vice, along with FX’s Nip/Tuck, the Ryan Murphy drama about plastic surgeons in Miami; USA Network’s Burn Notice, about a cast-off CIA agent solving crimes in Miami; A&E drama The Glades, about a detective in the Everglades; Netflix’s Bloodline, about a family in the Florida Keys with dark secrets; HBO’s Ballers, about a former NFL player managing current players; and Showtime’s Dexter, about a Miami forensics tech who kills the murderers who law enforcement could not catch. (Showtime just last week announced it is rebooting Dexter.) 

The state offers a wide variety of settings, including beaches, cities and rural areas. “What sets Florida apart from other states and countries is that within our state, you can find just about any location type,” said John Lux, executive director of trade association Film Florida. “With warm temperatures year round, countless number of diverse neighborhoods and locations, Florida has long been considered the perfect location for ‘Anywhere USA.’ ”

Alas, the state does not offer an incentive program for producers to shoot in Florida. Lux said that ended in 2016. That means several shows based in Florida shoot elsewhere. Claws, for one, films in New Orleans, as did On Becoming a God in Central Florida. “Florida is just cost-prohibitive,” said Laurence, who said the production does set up in Florida to shoot for short spells each season. “We get a lot of great stuff in a week or two.”

Some Florida residents believe viewers don’t see their true state when that happens. Eric Deggans, National Public Radio’s TV critic and a St. Petersburg resident, said there’s a unique tone to the water and the sand that may not come through on television. “Viewers are shown much less-impressive places and told, that’s Florida,” he said. “You rarely see TV shows and films that capture what is subtle and what is compelling about Florida.”

One and Done 

A couple of well-received Florida rookies have, like a luckless Florida man, met an untimely demise. Pop TV’s Florida Girls, a Laura Chinn comedy about four women in a trailer park trying to better their lives, was well-reviewed in season one, and Pop signed up for season two, only to cancel the show months later. On Becoming a God, about a woman, played by Kirsten Dunst, who works at a water park in an “Orlando-adjacent” locale and is making her way up a pyramid scheme, was set to shoot season two. Showtime said earlier this month that reuniting the cast and crew amidst the pandemic had become “untenable” and the show would not continue. 

The allure of Florida weirdness is hardly limited to scripted shows. MTV’s Floribama Shore, about pals Jeremiah, Codi, Kortni, Aimee and others partying, hooking up and fighting on the Gulf Coast, has had three seasons. So has MTV’s Siesta Key, about young adults figuring out friendships, relationships and careers in the islands off Sarasota. 

“Our show is about a group of friends who come together every year to leave the real world behind for a few weeks, get a house near the beach, and
have some fun,” said Jackie French, executive producer of Floribama Shore, which has had two seasons in Panama City Beach and one in St. Pete Beach. “And for as long as I can remember, Florida has been about exactly that — escapism.”

Why So Weird?

What makes Florida so peculiar? Residents have an array of suggestions. One is the extraordinary population growth, which saw Florida climb into third place, ahead of New York and behind California and Texas. The state population was just under 16 million in 2000, according to the Florida Legislature Office of Economic and Demographic Research. Today, it’s 21.5 million. 

“It’s people right up against each other who have nothing to do with each other,” Laurence said. 

Pittman said Florida comes in at No. 49 in the U.S. in terms of mental health spending. He called Florida “a frontier state” with a cowboy mentality. Add to the mix tons of tourists drawn to Walt Disney World and the beaches who are largely left alone by the police, and it may come as no surprise that people end up chasing each other with chainsaws. “Let the tourists do what they want and look the other way,” Pittman said of the ethos. “Everybody’s happy.”

The state is home to its fair share of nudists and Wiccans and mobsters and drug dealers. “A lot about Florida is deeply weird and unconventional,” Deggans said. “A lot of people are drawn to the state for exactly that reason, to let their freak flag fly.”

In 2013, The New Yorker cited a new genre of crime fiction, which it called “Florida
glare,” with authors such as Carl Hiaasen spinning stories about the local depravity. “South Florida wackos — all heavily armed, all loquacious, all barely aware of one another’s existence — blunder through petty crime, discover themselves engaged in actual murder, and then move in unconscious unison toward the black comedy of a violent climax,” wrote Adam Gopnik.

And who can forget the Florida Man meme, which saw users google Florida Man and their birthday to uncover yet
another oddball crime. (This reporter’s birthday offered up “Florida man charged with battery for giving girlfriend ‘Wet Willy.’ ”)

Pittman said it all fits the state profile. “Every day, you open a paper here, and it’s, ‘Wow, a guy punched a swan,’ ” he said. 

More Sober Shows 

Not every show set in Florida celebrates the state’s weirdness. OWN’s David Makes Man is a heartfelt drama about a Black teen living in an undesirable project in Homestead, Florida, outside of Miami, and making his way each day to an elite magnet school. Season two starts production in Orlando next week. 

Line producer Wayne Morris said Florida provides “a unique tableau that really is a character in the show,” including the glittering city beyond David’s project, the public bus he takes to school and the overwhelming humidity that makes the show’s many sticky situations even stickier. “The location is uniquely Florida, and you can’t recreate that shooting somewhere else.”

Astronaut drama The Right Stuff, a series based on the Tom Wolfe book of the same name, premiered on Disney Plus Oct. 9. Every exterior shot in the first season was shot in Florida, from Cape Canaveral to Cocoa Beach. “Florida plays a huge role in The Right Stuff — you could even say it’s a character,” executive producer Jennifer Davisson said. “It was very important to us to get the authenticity and spirit of Florida as a location in this particular time in history.”

The producers of David Makes Man and The Right Stuff didn’t give much thought to shooting in a state with more attractive incentives. “It was really important to the creative team that we were as authentic as possible,” Davisson said. “We were telling the story of a specific place and a specific movement in time, so we were determined to shoot in as many real locations as we could.” 

Some producers said there might be more demand for Florida’s rich scenery amidst these stuck-at-home times. Daniel Blau Rogge, executive producer of Siesta Key, mentioned the “stunning visual aesthetic” offered up on the show. “The beautiful scenery is exactly what viewers need right now, as we live through unprecedented times that limit our ability to travel,” he said. 

Other States’ Starring Roles

Florida is hardly the only location that emerges as a character in a show that’s set there. NBC has Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D. and Chicago Med, which return Nov. 11 and offer a peek at life for first responders in the Windy City. ABC premieres Big Sky Nov. 17, with Montana playing a key role in that crime drama. “The visuals of this show and the vistas of the show and C.J. Box’s novels [Big Sky is adapted from a Box novel] are so landscape-dependent that they are going to be breathtaking to watch,” said cast member John Carroll Lynch. 

But few, if any, states offer the sun, fun and zany drama of Florida. The unexpected cancellation of Florida Girls and On Becoming a God on the cusp of their sophomore seasons was disheartening for fans of Florida-set shows, but there will surely be others. 

Would Claws creator Laurence set another show in the Sunshine State? Absolutely. 

“I’m endlessly fascinated by the place,” he said. “I have great affection for Florida.” 

Cable operators spent the past week in preparation for Hurricane Michael, a Category 4 storm that made landfall in the Florida panhandle Wednesday afternoon with winds up to 155 mph.

According to reports, Hurricane Michael made landfall at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday (Oct. 10) at Mexico Beach, about 20 miles southeast of Panama City, Fla. By 5:05 p.m. the eye of the storm was leaving Florida, but the hurricane was still a Category 3 disturbance, packing sustained winds of up to 125 mph as it neared the Florida/Georgia/Alabama border. 

The storm was expected to bring heavy rains, high winds and record storm surges, and has been called the strongest hurricane to ever hit the Gulf Coast side of Florida.

Comcast, which has customers in Panama City and Tallahassee Fla.; and Dothan, Ala., has been making its network of more than 8,000 WiFi hotspots throughout the affected areas available to all residents and emergency personnel for free.  The company also has been offering safety tips and information on how to stay connected during the storm on its Twitter feed and other social media outlets.

[embed]https://twitter.com/ComcastSouth/status/1050084429249609728[/embed]

“As you’d imagine, there’s been a tremendous amount of preparation work that’s been done pre-storm, staging trucks, fuel, equipment and staff in and outside of the Florida region to ship in from other markets as needed,” said Comcast regional spokesman Brian Farley.

Cox Communications has systems in Pensacola and portions of the Gulf Coast and is expanding the availability of The Weather Channel in those areas. 

Cox said the temporary authorization for all its Starter TV customers will extend through Friday, Oct, 12 in the Florida Gulf markets of Pensacola, Fort Walton Beach, Crestview, Destin, Niceville, Sandestin, Walton County, and Freeport.  Customers can tune to channel 38 or 1038 to access TWC. With the exception of Freeport, Starter customers will also have access to "Weather Nation", WPMI DT2 on channel 696.

At AT&T, the focus too is on providing connectivity to residents and emergency personnel that need it. On its website, AT&T said its local and regional Network support teams, its Network Disaster Recovery (NDR) team, and the AT&T FirstNet team, have staged network assets along the Gulf Coast for quick deployment if needed, including:

· 32 COWS (Cell on Wheels) and COLTs (Cell on Light Trucks)

· 7 Emergency Communications Vehicles (ECVs) and Emergency Communications Portables (ECPs)

· 1 Hazmat and Mobile Command Center

Mediacom Communications has also been working hard in preparation of the storm. According to its website, it has taken the following steps: 1. Portable and back-up generators are secured in coastal areas, and topped off with fuel supplies. Fuel, clean up equipment, and restoration supplies are stockpiled.

2. Additional field resources are on standby to conduct post storm damage assessments and quickly begin restoration activities following the storm.

3. Critical systems and infrastructure are secured to withstand potential water and hurricane force wind damage in flood prone areas.

4. We have rescheduled service and installation appointments in affected areas.

5. Operations are closed in all Florida offices for employee safety on Wednesday, and will be closing early in many Georgia areas. We will re-open operations once it is deemed safe to travel following the storm.

Mediacom also is offering free Community WiFi from its hotspots in Gulf Shores, Ala.; and Valdosta, Ga.; to provide some temporary internet access for people who have evacuated to these areas, and for members of these communities. Customers can find important information and tips to prepare for a major storm by visiting the NOAA.gov website, or by clicking here.

At Charter Communications, which has a small presence in Panama City and Pensacola, spokesman Rich Ruggiero said the company’s storm preparation has been in effect all week — prepositioning staff, fuel, vehicles, supplies and other assets. The impact early on has been minimal – a few stores were closed and routine work has been rescheduled, but it was stressed that it was too early to tell what effect the storm will have on those markets.

Hurricanes in Florida and Texas drove down video customer rolls by about 125,000 in the third quarter, but gains in high speed data subscriptions helped boost overall customer relationships by 115,000 homes.

Comcast had earlier warned that severe storms that ripped through Houston, Texas and western Florida would impact video customer growth in the period. At an investor conference last month, newly minted Comcast EVP of Xfinity Services Matt Strauss estimated that the customer losses would be between 100,000 and 150,000 customers. In the end, Comcast ended up in the middle – losing 125,000 video subscribers. But a gain of 214,000 high-speed internet customers helped steer overall customer relationships into the black. For the period, Comcast said it added 83,000 residential customer relationships and 32,000 business customer relationships. Comcast lost about 94,000 phone customers but added 51,000 security and automation subscribers.

High speed data revenue rose 8.9% in the period and video revenue increase 4.2%, mostly reflecting rate increases, additional revenue associated with a boxing event available on pay-per-view and an increase in the number of customers subscribing to additional services. Business services revenue increased 12.6%, primarily due to increases in the number of customers receiving our small and medium-sized business services offerings.

Total cable systems revenue increased 5.1% to $13.2 billion and cash flow increased 5.2% to $5.25 billion.

Consolidated revenue dipped 1.6% to $20.98 billion in the period, while cash flow increased 5% to $7.2 billion.

“I’m very pleased with the company’s operational and financial results during the quarter, Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts said in a statement. “Across Comcast NBCUniversal, we are uniquely positioned with a broad range of growth opportunities that set us up well for the future.

As Hurricane Matthew made its way out to sea Sunday night and Monday morning, Comcast said it has begun the process of restoring service to its customers in the affected areas.

Hurricane Matthew, which killed more than 1,000 people in Haiti when it ripped through that island nation Oct. 4, has been attributed to about 22 deaths in Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia as it made its way through those states over the weekend.

The hurricane brought heavy rains and flooding due to storm surges as high as 11 feet in some areas. As of Monday afternoon, the storm moved out to the open sea, but areas of North Carolina were hit hard by flooding ad damage from high winds. A levee breach in Lumberton, N.C., left about 1,500 people stranded on the rooftops of their homes on Monday, as rescue workers moved in.

Comcast Central Division spokesman Brian Farley said most of the service issues in the cable company’s territories in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina were tied to commercial power outages and restricted access to facilities due to hazardous conditions and closures.  In an e-mail message, Farley said for most customers services should be restored after power comes back and access to damaged facilities and downed lines have been cleared.

“Once cleared and access is gained, we will continue to work around the clock until services are fully restored for every customer,” Farley said in the message.

Technical crews are well underway placing and refueling generators and are starting to assess damage and beginning repairs where it’s safe to do so.

“We thank our employees who have been preparing for days and are now working non-stop to best serve our customers,” Farley added. “We’re also working very closely with state and local governments and power companies to coordinate efforts during the restoration process. We hope our customers are safe and we appreciate their patience as we know how important our services are to them.”

On Saturday Comcast activated free XFinity WiFi hotspots in all three states, making the wireless high-speed data network available to all residents in the affected areas, including non-Comcast customers.

“During times like this, it is critical that we keep residents connected to family, friends and emergency resources,” Farley said in the mail message. “By creating WiFi access, we hope we’re able to provide some degree of support during this difficult time.

Comcast customers can get outage updates via their My Account app, online at www.comcast.com , or via phone at 1-800-COMCAST.