The ongoing disagreements between TWC (Time Warner Cable) and the CBS network have culminated in the removal of CBS channels including Showtime from the cable giant, for now anyway.
The fee negotiations broke down on Friday resulting in a blacked out network for TWC subscribers in in New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, Boston, Detroit, Chicago, Denver and Pittsburgh. Thanks to the blackout, CBS say that TWC subscribers will now miss the World Golf Championships and the PGA Championship which start August 3rd and August 8th respectively.
The row which centers on a CBS demand for higher carriage fees, has put Time Warner on the defensive, putting all the blame on CBS. They said in a statement, “We agreed to an extension on Tuesday morning with the expectation that we would engage in a meaningful negotiation with CBS. Since then, 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. We thank our customers for their patience and support as we continue to fight hard to keep their prices down.”
CBS retorted that Time Warner Cable, “has conducted negotiations in a combative and non-productive spirit, indulging in pointless brinksmanship and distorted public positioning — such as the fictional and ridiculous 600 percent increase CBS supposedly demanded — while maintaining antiquated positions no longer held by any other programming distributor in the business.”
Subscribers will miss out on hit shows such as Under the Dome, The Big Bang Theory,” “NCIS,” “Two and a Half Men” and more.
Any subscribers can still access CBS content via digital TV but it will remain missing from their boxes for now.
Let the TV stations devote themselves to strengthening their ATSC aerial broadcast signal strength or lose all their rights. If they want our help against cable or aereo.com , let them provide real service.
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