Archive > Big Brother 15

Time Warner & CBS Reach Content Carriage Agreement (New York, Dallas, LA)

<< < (4/8) > >>

HurricaneHowieWood:
Time Warner Cable Drops CBS Network From Lineup
Long-Running Negotiations Between the Companies Failed to Reach a Deal on Fees
By SHALINI RAMACHANDRAN

CBS Corp.'s CBS -0.64%flagship broadcast network was dropped from Time Warner Cable Inc.'s TWC -0.49%TV service in New York, Los Angeles and other major markets Friday after long-running negotiations between the companies failed to reach a deal on fees.

The blackout, that started at 5 p.m. Eastern time, came more than a month after a previous agreement between CBS and Time Warner Cable expired, although it had been extended several times to allow negotiations on a new deal.

The two companies have been negotiating over fees to be paid by Time Warner Cable for the right to carry CBS programming. In a statement, CBS accused Time Warner Cable of negotiating "in a combative and nonproductive spirit…while maintaining antiquated positions no longer held by any other programming distributor in the business."

Time Warner Cable said in a statement that "CBS has refused to have a productive discussion" over the past few days. "It's become clear that no matter how much time we give them, they're not willing to come to reasonable terms," it said.

About three million subscribers were expected to be affected by a blackout, which covers CBS Corp.'s Showtime premium channel as well as CBS.

Time Warner Cable has accused CBS of demanding fees in certain big cities much higher than what the cable operator pays in other areas of the country. CBS had said that Time Warner Cable was refusing to negotiate deals at parity to what other cable, satellite and telecom companies had struck with CBS.

The dispute highlights growing tensions between TV channel owners and distributors. Pay-TV operators have argued that the fees demanded by broadcast networks, known as "retransmission fees," are increasing their programming costs. Those fees have become increasingly important to broadcasters such as CBS, which has said it expects retransmission revenue to roughly quadruple to $1 billion a year by 2017, helping diversify broadcasters' revenue away from a heavy reliance on advertising.

Generally, both sides and consumers lose during a blackout. Cable and satellite operators see subscriber defections and television channels suffer steep declines in ratings. Last year, Viacom Inc.'s channels such as MTV and Nickelodeon were blacked out on DirecTV's satellite TV service for nine days in a fee dispute.

Time Warner Cable has warned that it could put another network into CBS's channel slot permanently after a blackout. The cable operator said last week it was in talks with several programmers to take the slot.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323681904578644410155884272.html?ru=yahoo&mod=yahoo_hs

HurricaneHowieWood:
Time Warner Cable Removes CBS in 3 Big Markets
By BILL CARTER


The war between CBS and Time Warner Cable intensified Friday afternoon when the cable company pulled the CBS stations in the New York, Los Angeles and Dallas markets.

CBS suspended the service around 5 p.m. Eastern time. Both sides then issued statements blaming the other for being unreasonable in the negotiations, which were extended from Monday.

The decision means that viewers in those cities that subscribe to Time Warner Cable will not be able to watch CBS programming until a deal is reached. In the past, subscribers have reacted with anger at such suspensions, but generally because they have missed specific programs. In this case, the summer programming roster does not contain many highly popular shows that may drive a settlement. CBS’s biggest appeal this summer is from the show “Under the Dome,” which will not have a new episode until Monday.

But the network does have the PGA golf championship coming in a week. Further down the road is the NFL season, which would surely stir outrage if viewers were denied access to the games.

CBS called the action “ill-advised” and “injurious not only to our many affected viewers, but also to Time Warner Cable itself.”

Time Warner Cable followed with its own statement, saying, “CBS has refused to have a productive discussion. It’s become clear that no matter how much time we give them, they’re not willing to come to reasonable terms.”

CBS also used tough language in its statement, saying the cable company had “conducted negotiations in a combative and nonproductive spirit, indulging in pointless brinkmanship and distorted public positioning.” CBS labeled Time Warner Cable’s charge that CBS was seeking a 600 percent fee increase as “fictional and ridiculous.”

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/time-warner-cable-removes-cbs-214110218.html

HurricaneHowieWood:
This is what Viewers on Time Warner Cable in Dallas are seeing:

TexasLady:
WOW! I never thought it would get this far. I thought they would come to some sort of an agreement.  :ascared

HurricaneHowieWood:
Well this is getting ugly in hurry.  CBS has taken the fight on-line, pulling full episode streaming for all Time Warner Broadband Customers across the US, not just those in the Blackout affected markets...

CBS Blocks Time Warner Cable Internet Users from Full Episodes Online
By Todd Spangler

The TV dispute between CBS and Time Warner Cable extended to online video Friday, as the Eye blocked all the operator’s broadband customers from accessing full episodes on CBS.com and mobile apps.

CBS-owned local TV stations went dark in several Time Warner Cable markets Friday, including New York, L.A. and Dallas, and the cable operator removed Showtime and three other cable nets.

TW Cable broadband customers across the MSO’s entire U.S. who attempt to access content on CBS.com now see a message that the videos are unavailable.

“If Time Warner Cable is a customer’s Internet service provider, then their access to CBS full episode content via online and mobile platforms has been suspended as a result of Time Warner Cable’s decision to drop CBS and Showtime from their market,” CBS spokesman Dan McClintock said in an email. “As soon as CBS is restored on Time Warner Cable systems in affected markets, that content will be accessible again.”

Time Warner Cable, in a statement, said, “CBS has shown utter lack of regard for consumers by blocking Time Warner Cable’s customers, including our high-speed data only customers, from accessing their shows on their free website. CBS enjoys the privilege of using public owned airwaves to deliver their programming — they should not be allowed to abuse that privilege.”

http://tv.yahoo.com/news/cbs-blocks-time-warner-cable-internet-users-full-000709877.html

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page