The broadcaster and the cable company fail to reach a pact on fees, leaving subscribers in New York, Los Angeles and Dallas without the most-watched television channel for now. (Credit: Mari Benitez/CNET) After weeks of talks and multiple deadline extensions, CBS and Time Warner Cable failed Monday night to come to terms on fees the cable company must pay to carry the broadcaster's programming in some major U.S. cities, forcing shows like "Under the Dome" on the most-watched channel on television off the cable lineup for subscribers there. A spokeswoman for the cable giant said many of its customers would lose CBS programming as of midnight ET. "The outrageous demands for fees by CBS Corp. have forced Time Warner Cable to remove several of its networks and broadcast stations from our customers' lineups," Time Warner Cable spokeswoman Maureen Huff said in a statement. "As of midnight ET, Time Warner Cable customers in New York City, Dallas and Los Angeles will no longer receive their local CBS broadcast stations. In addition, we have been forced to remove Showtime, TMC, Flix and Smithsonian from our lineups across the country. We offered to pay reasonable increases, but CBS' demands are out of line and unfair -- and they want Time Warner Cable to pay more than others pay for the same programming." CNET has contacted CBS Corp. for comment and will update this report when we learn more. CBS Corp., which is the parent company of CNET, has been negotiating a new carriage pact with Time Warner Cable for its flagship network under multiple extensions to their previous agreement that expired June 30. By failing to reach an agreement on retransmission fees -- money that CBS requires from TWC to carry the channel for its subscribers -- by Monday night, customers in New York, Los Angeles, and Dallas lost the flagship channel and all of Time Warner Cable's customers lost CBS-owned Showtime as well. Time Warner has said it is fighting a 600 percent markup on fees compared with what it pays in the rest of the country, an unreasonable and unprecedented price it is negotiating down on behalf of its customers. CBS has said Time Warner Cable won't negotiate the same sort of deal that all other cable, satellite, and telecommunications companies have struck with the network. Past instances of blackouts over programming costs inevitable end with the two sides coming to a settlement. Around this time last year, DirecTV and Viacom ended their nine-day blackout over the costs of carrying channels like Nickelodeon and MTV, for example. The questions are when will it end, what is the damage and to whom. CBS's first NFL broadcasts come in late August, with the fall television season right around the corner the following month. Even though popular summer shows like "Big Brother" and "Under the Dome" are being dropped now, Time Warner Cable will find it more difficult to keep up a hard line against CBS when professional football and the regular television season roll around. The damage of a blackout cuts both ways. CBS loses viewership of its shows, which hurts its ratings and the ad rates it can request from marketers. Time Warner runs the risk of losing subscribers. In the interim, customers who've lost CBS stations have online options. Time Warner has gone so far as to encourage New York customers to explore Aereo, the online streamer of over-the-air broadcasts, to pick up the broadcasts that have been dropped from its cable packages. Many CBS shows are available on the network's own Web site, typically for a limited window of time, and Amazon Prime customers can watch "Under the Dome" on its Instant Video service four days after they run. And don't forget, you can always just get your own antenna. CNET's Steven Musil contributed to this report.

Back to Home »
The broadcaster and the cable company fail to reach a pact on fees, leaving subscribers in New York, Los Angeles and Dallas without the most-watched television channel for now. (Credit: Mari Benitez/CNET) After weeks of talks and multiple deadline extensions, CBS and Time Warner Cable failed Monday night to come to terms on fees the cable company must pay to carry the broadcaster's programming in some major U.S. cities, forcing shows like "Under the Dome" on the most-watched channel on television off the cable lineup for subscribers there. A spokeswoman for the cable giant said many of its customers would lose CBS programming as of midnight ET. "The outrageous demands for fees by CBS Corp. have forced Time Warner Cable to remove several of its networks and broadcast stations from our customers' lineups," Time Warner Cable spokeswoman Maureen Huff said in a statement. "As of midnight ET, Time Warner Cable customers in New York City, Dallas and Los Angeles will no longer receive their local CBS broadcast stations. In addition, we have been forced to remove Showtime, TMC, Flix and Smithsonian from our lineups across the country. We offered to pay reasonable increases, but CBS' demands are out of line and unfair -- and they want Time Warner Cable to pay more than others pay for the same programming." CNET has contacted CBS Corp. for comment and will update this report when we learn more. CBS Corp., which is the parent company of CNET, has been negotiating a new carriage pact with Time Warner Cable for its flagship network under multiple extensions to their previous agreement that expired June 30. By failing to reach an agreement on retransmission fees -- money that CBS requires from TWC to carry the channel for its subscribers -- by Monday night, customers in New York, Los Angeles, and Dallas lost the flagship channel and all of Time Warner Cable's customers lost CBS-owned Showtime as well. Time Warner has said it is fighting a 600 percent markup on fees compared with what it pays in the rest of the country, an unreasonable and unprecedented price it is negotiating down on behalf of its customers. CBS has said Time Warner Cable won't negotiate the same sort of deal that all other cable, satellite, and telecommunications companies have struck with the network. Past instances of blackouts over programming costs inevitable end with the two sides coming to a settlement. Around this time last year, DirecTV and Viacom ended their nine-day blackout over the costs of carrying channels like Nickelodeon and MTV, for example. The questions are when will it end, what is the damage and to whom. CBS's first NFL broadcasts come in late August, with the fall television season right around the corner the following month. Even though popular summer shows like "Big Brother" and "Under the Dome" are being dropped now, Time Warner Cable will find it more difficult to keep up a hard line against CBS when professional football and the regular television season roll around. The damage of a blackout cuts both ways. CBS loses viewership of its shows, which hurts its ratings and the ad rates it can request from marketers. Time Warner runs the risk of losing subscribers. In the interim, customers who've lost CBS stations have online options. Time Warner has gone so far as to encourage New York customers to explore Aereo, the online streamer of over-the-air broadcasts, to pick up the broadcasts that have been dropped from its cable packages. Many CBS shows are available on the network's own Web site, typically for a limited window of time, and Amazon Prime customers can watch "Under the Dome" on its Instant Video service four days after they run. And don't forget, you can always just get your own antenna. CNET's Steven Musil contributed to this report.

The broadcaster and the cable company fail to reach a pact on fees, leaving subscribers in New York, Los Angeles and Dallas without the most-watched television channel for now. (Credit: Mari Benitez/CNET) After weeks of talks and multiple deadline extensions, CBS and Time Warner Cable failed Monday night to come to terms on fees the cable company must pay to carry the broadcaster's programming in some major U.S. cities, forcing shows like "Under the Dome" on the most-watched channel on television off the cable lineup for subscribers there. A spokeswoman for the cable giant said many of its customers would lose CBS programming as of midnight ET. "The outrageous demands for fees by CBS Corp. have forced Time Warner Cable to remove several of its networks and broadcast stations from our customers' lineups," Time Warner Cable spokeswoman Maureen Huff said in a statement. "As of midnight ET, Time Warner Cable customers in New York City, Dallas and Los Angeles will no longer receive their local CBS broadcast stations. In addition, we have been forced to remove Showtime, TMC, Flix and Smithsonian from our lineups across the country. We offered to pay reasonable increases, but CBS' demands are out of line and unfair -- and they want Time Warner Cable to pay more than others pay for the same programming." CNET has contacted CBS Corp. for comment and will update this report when we learn more. CBS Corp., which is the parent company of CNET, has been negotiating a new carriage pact with Time Warner Cable for its flagship network under multiple extensions to their previous agreement that expired June 30. By failing to reach an agreement on retransmission fees -- money that CBS requires from TWC to carry the channel for its subscribers -- by Monday night, customers in New York, Los Angeles, and Dallas lost the flagship channel and all of Time Warner Cable's customers lost CBS-owned Showtime as well. Time Warner has said it is fighting a 600 percent markup on fees compared with what it pays in the rest of the country, an unreasonable and unprecedented price it is negotiating down on behalf of its customers. CBS has said Time Warner Cable won't negotiate the same sort of deal that all other cable, satellite, and telecommunications companies have struck with the network. Past instances of blackouts over programming costs inevitable end with the two sides coming to a settlement. Around this time last year, DirecTV and Viacom ended their nine-day blackout over the costs of carrying channels like Nickelodeon and MTV, for example. The questions are when will it end, what is the damage and to whom. CBS's first NFL broadcasts come in late August, with the fall television season right around the corner the following month. Even though popular summer shows like "Big Brother" and "Under the Dome" are being dropped now, Time Warner Cable will find it more difficult to keep up a hard line against CBS when professional football and the regular television season roll around. The damage of a blackout cuts both ways. CBS loses viewership of its shows, which hurts its ratings and the ad rates it can request from marketers. Time Warner runs the risk of losing subscribers. In the interim, customers who've lost CBS stations have online options. Time Warner has gone so far as to encourage New York customers to explore Aereo, the online streamer of over-the-air broadcasts, to pick up the broadcasts that have been dropped from its cable packages. Many CBS shows are available on the network's own Web site, typically for a limited window of time, and Amazon Prime customers can watch "Under the Dome" on its Instant Video service four days after they run. And don't forget, you can always just get your own antenna. CNET's Steven Musil contributed to this report.

Posted by : Unknown Monday, July 29, 2013

The broadcaster and the cable company fail to reach a pact on fees, leaving subscribers in New York, Los Angeles and Dallas without the most-watched television channel for now.

CBS and Time Warner Cable logos against the New York skyline (Credit: Mari Benitez/CNET)

After weeks of talks and multiple deadline extensions, CBS and Time Warner Cable failed Monday night to come to terms on fees the cable company must pay to carry the broadcaster's programming in some major U.S. cities, forcing shows like "Under the Dome" on the most-watched channel on television off the cable lineup for subscribers there.

A spokeswoman for the cable giant said many of its customers would lose CBS programming as of midnight ET.

"The outrageous demands for fees by CBS Corp. have forced Time Warner Cable to remove several of its networks and broadcast stations from our customers' lineups," Time Warner Cable spokeswoman Maureen Huff said in a statement. "As of midnight ET, Time Warner Cable customers in New York City, Dallas and Los Angeles will no longer receive their local CBS broadcast stations. In addition, we have been forced to remove Showtime, TMC, Flix and Smithsonian from our lineups across the country. We offered to pay reasonable increases, but CBS' demands are out of line and unfair -- and they want Time Warner Cable to pay more than others pay for the same programming."

CNET has contacted CBS Corp. for comment and will update this report when we learn more.

CBS Corp., which is the parent company of CNET, has been negotiating a new carriage pact with Time Warner Cable for its flagship network under multiple extensions to their previous agreement that expired June 30.

By failing to reach an agreement on retransmission fees -- money that CBS requires from TWC to carry the channel for its subscribers -- by Monday night, customers in New York, Los Angeles, and Dallas lost the flagship channel and all of Time Warner Cable's customers lost CBS-owned Showtime as well.

Time Warner has said it is fighting a 600 percent markup on fees compared with what it pays in the rest of the country, an unreasonable and unprecedented price it is negotiating down on behalf of its customers. CBS has said Time Warner Cable won't negotiate the same sort of deal that all other cable, satellite, and telecommunications companies have struck with the network.

Past instances of blackouts over programming costs inevitable end with the two sides coming to a settlement. Around this time last year, DirecTV and Viacom ended their nine-day blackout over the costs of carrying channels like Nickelodeon and MTV, for example.

The questions are when will it end, what is the damage and to whom. CBS's first NFL broadcasts come in late August, with the fall television season right around the corner the following month. Even though popular summer shows like "Big Brother" and "Under the Dome" are being dropped now, Time Warner Cable will find it more difficult to keep up a hard line against CBS when professional football and the regular television season roll around.

The damage of a blackout cuts both ways. CBS loses viewership of its shows, which hurts its ratings and the ad rates it can request from marketers. Time Warner runs the risk of losing subscribers.

In the interim, customers who've lost CBS stations have online options. Time Warner has gone so far as to encourage New York customers to explore Aereo, the online streamer of over-the-air broadcasts, to pick up the broadcasts that have been dropped from its cable packages. Many CBS shows are available on the network's own Web site, typically for a limited window of time, and Amazon Prime customers can watch "Under the Dome" on its Instant Video service four days after they run.

And don't forget, you can always just get your own antenna.

CNET's Steven Musil contributed to this report.