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Time Warner & CBS Reach Content Carriage Agreement (New York, Dallas, LA)
HurricaneHowieWood:
CBS chief exec says cable fee dispute unresolved
Associated Press By LYNN ELBER | Associated Press
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — A dispute with Time Warner Cable was unresolved as a deadline loomed involving the availability of stations in three major markets, CBS Corp. chief executive Les Moonves said Monday.
If it's not settled, six CBS TV stations could go dark for around 3 million Time Warner Cable customers in New York, Los Angeles and Dallas.
CBS Inc. and Time Warner Cable Inc. are in the public spat over fees in the markets.
Moonves told the Television Critics Association the deadline to resolve the dispute was 5 p.m. EDT Monday. Later, both companies said they extended the deadline to 8 p.m. EDT.
The disagreement centers mainly on how much Time Warner Cable pays for the right to retransmit signals from the CBS-owned stations.
Also involved is a possible blackout of CBS-owned Showtime for Time Warner Cable customers nationwide who pay extra for it.
Discussions were continuing and Moonves said he hopes the stations don't go dark.
"As we've said, we feel like we should be paid for our programming," he said. He declined to offer further details, saying he didn't want to negotiate in public.
Dozens of blackouts have occurred nationwide in fee fights over the years, but many get resolved at the last minute.
Selling retransmission rights has become a big business for broadcasters such as CBS. Research firm SNL Kagan estimates retransmission fees will reach $3 billion industrywide this year and double to $6 billion by 2018.
Time Warner Cable has said it's resisting a fee hike demand by CBS so prices don't go up for customers. CBS said Time Warner Cable isn't agreeing to terms that its competitors have accepted.
If the fight continues, some Time Warner Cable customers could lose access to new episodes of "Under the Dome" and the 15th season of "Big Brother." Both are available online after a slight delay.
http://tv.yahoo.com/news/cbs-chief-exec-says-cable-fee-dispute-unresolved-164555190.html
HurricaneHowieWood:
Clicking the link below will take you the update version of the article reflecting the new 10PM EDT deadline...
CBS/Time Warner Cable talks go down to the wire
By Melanie Hicken
Time Warner Cable and CBS are going down to the wire to settle a dispute that could result in a blackout for millions of Time Warner Cable customers across the country.
The companies have been battling in recent weeks over the "transmission fee" that Time Warner Cable pays to run CBS-owned stations, including network affiliates in major cities like New York and Los Angeles, and CBS-owned pay channel Showtime, according to the cable provider.
CBS (CBS, Fortune 500) has threatened to yank its programming from Time Warner Cable (TWC, Fortune 500) customers in New York, Los Angeles and Dallas if an agreement is not reached. It could also potentially affect Time Warner Cable's Showtime subscribers across the country, according to Time Warner Cable spokeswoman Maureen Huff.
On Monday evening, the companies extended the deadline for talks to 9 p.m. ET from 8 p.m. It was the fifth deadline extension over the past month since the former contract expired on June 30.
Huff said that negotiations remained "ongoing and active." CBS declined to comment beyond a statement that the deadline had been extended while negotiations continued.
If the two companies don't reach an agreement, Time Warner Cable customers could be blocked from viewing CBS programs, including hit shows like "NCIS," "The Big Bang Theory" and this summer's "Under the Dome."
Although TV networks tend to attract fewer viewers in the summer season, "Under the Dome" has topped the ratings list, attracting more viewers than any other show last Monday night.
CBS has been running TV commercials warning customers in the affected cities that "Time Warner Cable is threatening to hold your favorite shows hostage."
In response, Time Warner Cable has claimed that CBS is demanding too high a rate -- 600% more than what the cable provider has to pay for the network's programming in other parts of the country. In those areas, Time Warner Cable negotiates with local CBS affiliates that are not owned outright by the network.
http://money.cnn.com/2013/07/29/news/companies/cbs-time-warner-cable-agreement/index.html
HurricaneHowieWood:
UPDATE: CBS And Time Warner Cable Fail To Reach Agreement, But Stations Stay Up For Now
UPDATE: Hold on. Time Warner Cable now says that “At the request of CBS, we have halted going dark on their channels.” WCBS is still on in the TWC system in New York. CBS says that the companies “have agreed to continue discussions” — shortly after it accused TWC of being “incapable of accepting the concept that the value of a company’s programming should be in line with its popularity.”
...
http://tv.yahoo.com/news/cbs-time-warner-cable-extend-contract-deadline-8-204852966.html
TexasLady:
It almost looks like Time Warner blinked. Generally they tend to come up with some sort of agreement with the networks and networks with TW but it doesn't seem that they are close to an agreement right now. A few months ago it went down to the wire with NBC and TW here in Austin but was resolved before it got to this point.
HurricaneHowieWood:
CBS and TWC Extend Negotiations Deadline to Aug. 2 (Updated)
UPDATE, 7 a.m. Tuesday:
The retransmission standoff between CBS and Time Warner Cable has gone into extra-extra innings. Both sides have agreed to extend the deadline to 5 p.m. ET on Aug, 2 while they continue negotiations.
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