The two companies, which have been engaged in contentious negotiations over a new carriage contract for the network's flagship CBS network, agree to extension through July 29. July 24, 2013 8:34 PM PDT (Credit: CBS) Time Warner Cable subscribers will not be losing access to CBS Corp. programming Wednesday night after all, despite a looming deadline and apparently no new agreement in place. The two companies, which had been engaged in contentious negotiations over a new carriage contract for the network's flagship CBS network, have agreed to a contract extension that will allow the cable giant's subscribers to continue receiving the network's programming through July 29 at 2 p.m. PT, a Time Warner Cable spokesperson told CNET this evening. A spokesperson for CBS, which is the parent company of CNET, could not immediately confirm the extension. The two companies have companies had been negotiating under an extension to their previous agreement that expired June 30. That extension was due to expire tonight, resulting in a threatened blackout for 3 million Time Warner Cable customers. CBS-owned channels Showtime and TMC are at risk for all the cable operator's subscribers. The high-stakes talks between the two companies have apparently fierce, with both sides accusing the other of trying to derail negotiations. Time Warner Cable said CBS was asking for a 600 percent markup on fees compared with what it pays in the rest of the country, while CBS said Time Warner Cable wouldn't negotiate the standard deal that all other cable, satellite, and telecommunications companies have struck with the network. In a sign that talks were not going well, CBS started running ads in New York, Los Angeles, and Dallas last week warning Time Warner Cable customers could lose access to its shows on Wednesday when that extension expires. In response to those ads, Time Warner Cable indicated it was prepared to recommend that its New York subscribers use streaming startup Aereo to access local programming in CBS pulled the plug, a spokesperson for the cable giant told The New York Times on Sunday. Aereo, which uses antenna/DVR technology to let consumers watch live, local over-the-air television broadcasts on some Internet-connected devices, is already operating in New York and is planning a launch in Dallas this year. In addition to possibly providing the streaming startup with a larger user base, the gesture serves as a bit of an insult as it endorses a legal foe of CBS. Aereo charges $8 per month for use of its cloud-based antenna/DVR technology and 20 hours of DVR storage. That service has provoked lawsuits from TV broadcast giants including ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC Universal, and Telemundo, which alleged last year that the service violates their copyrights and that Aereo must pay them retransmission fees.
The two companies, which have been engaged in contentious negotiations over a new carriage contract for the network's flagship CBS network, agree to extension through July 29.
(Credit: CBS)
Time Warner Cable subscribers will not be losing access to CBS Corp. programming Wednesday night after all, despite a looming deadline and apparently no new agreement in place.
The two companies, which had been engaged in contentious negotiations over a new carriage contract for the network's flagship CBS network, have agreed to a contract extension that will allow the cable giant's subscribers to continue receiving the network's programming through July 29 at 2 p.m. PT, a Time Warner Cable spokesperson told CNET this evening. A spokesperson for CBS, which is the parent company of CNET, could not immediately confirm the extension.
The two companies have companies had been negotiating under an extension to their previous agreement that expired June 30. That extension was due to expire tonight, resulting in a threatened blackout for 3 million Time Warner Cable customers. CBS-owned channels Showtime and TMC are at risk for all the cable operator's subscribers.
The high-stakes talks between the two companies have apparently fierce, with both sides accusing the other of trying to derail negotiations. Time Warner Cable said CBS was asking for a 600 percent markup on fees compared with what it pays in the rest of the country, while CBS said Time Warner Cable wouldn't negotiate the standard deal that all other cable, satellite, and telecommunications companies have struck with the network.
In a sign that talks were not going well, CBS started running ads in New York, Los Angeles, and Dallas last week warning Time Warner Cable customers could lose access to its shows on Wednesday when that extension expires.
In response to those ads, Time Warner Cable indicated it was prepared to recommend that its New York subscribers use streaming startup Aereo to access local programming in CBS pulled the plug, a spokesperson for the cable giant told The New York Times on Sunday. Aereo, which uses antenna/DVR technology to let consumers watch live, local over-the-air television broadcasts on some Internet-connected devices, is already operating in New York and is planning a launch in Dallas this year.
In addition to possibly providing the streaming startup with a larger user base, the gesture serves as a bit of an insult as it endorses a legal foe of CBS. Aereo charges $8 per month for use of its cloud-based antenna/DVR technology and 20 hours of DVR storage. That service has provoked lawsuits from TV broadcast giants including ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC Universal, and Telemundo, which alleged last year that the service violates their copyrights and that Aereo must pay them retransmission fees.
