Time Warner pulls CBS station signals, L.A., NYC

[gblews]

I am very unhappy with the situation. As it goes now, my TW bill is the single most expensive bill I have. To even have to face the idea of a major station being dropped is ludicrous. These bastards need to work it out, quietly and quickly without causing any problems or price increases for the consumers.

If CBS is increasing the price they charge TW, why shouldn't TW be able to pass that price onto the consumer?

TWC is being disingenuous when thye cry about wanting to protect it's customers from higher prices. That implies that they would only raise cable fees when the cost of doing business goes up. In reality they raise prices every year or two and will likely continue doing that regardless of whether their costs go up. I guess they don't feel cofortable raising prices as high as they'd need to in order to cover the CBS cost in such a short period of time.

Yeah, didn't the Dish Network have the same problem with AMC right around the time a new season of Walking Dead was set to premiere?

Yep, and TWC did the exact same thing to Dish Networks with their own brand new sports channel launched last year. TWC was asking for a very large fee. Dish used the same TWC P.R. move, crying to their customers that they didn't want to raise prices on their customers who weren't into watching spports. They finally worked it out.

It is hard to see this thing going on too much longer. L.A. and NYC are the two largest media markets in the country and the NFL is starting soon. I can't see CBS being willing to refund all that ad money to the NFL for not broadcasting their ads. It makes more economic sense for them to forgo some of their projected profit and lower their demands.

TWC only has to worry about losing customers to the dish companies (it would seem). I know I'm not going anywhere because I'm a Lakers fan and I need their sorry ass sports channel. (actually, it's not TOO bad)

 

[TheSeeker]

I'm stuck with Time Warner because that's the only provider coming into my building.

 

[Othello]

Totally support TW in this. They also are havign the same issue with NBC in some areas as well.

 

[Othello]

From the News release I got, Time Warner will be giving customers prorated rebates for the time that the premium channels like Showetime, for the time they are off the air.

I should hope so, since I'm still paying for the damn thing. This really chaps my ass since two of must watch shows come on Showtime, and now I'm going to have to wait for the fucking Blu-Rays NEXT YEAR to watch them

Time Warner sucks ass and has shitty customer service. When we got the box and Showtime, we were told AMC was coming to Time Warner shortly. Well, three years later, still no AMC, and they even aired a Time Warner/AMC/Walking Dead ad during the goddamn Superbowl. I called and raised holy hell over that.

I love TW and have had awesome customer service every time I've contacted them.. Not to mention their service has been damn reliable for many many years for me.

 

[Othello]

I am very unhappy with the situation. As it goes now, my TW bill is the single most expensive bill I have. To even have to face the idea of a major station being dropped is ludicrous. These bastards need to work it out, quietly and quickly without causing any problems or price increases for the consumers.

I agree. This whole situation is bullshit. I've noticed they offer Starz while all this goes on. Whoopdie-fucking-doo I didn't get Starz when I got my cable package because I DIDN'T WANT STARZ. I WANTED MY GODDAMN SHOWTIME.

Time Warner is also one of my highest bills at the moment, due to lack of competition here (I like to call it the buttcrack of the South, but that's harsh toward buttcracks), so I'm pretty much forced to go to Dish.

I can't even do that. The Apt Complex doesn't allow dishes. Its TW or nothing, basically.

Check and see if u-verse is available.

 

[Othello]

So, by that logic, if you plopped down $80 for a Star Trek Blu-Ray set, and found out halfway through the season that CBS home video decided through negotiation breakdown that they couldn't put the rest of the season on disc and were going to replace the last half season with episodes from Everybody Loves Raymond, you wouldn't have a problem with it? Spending your hard earned money on the set?

This has got to be one of the worst analogies I've ever seen.

I don't know about you, but I've had cable through various providers for the last thirty years. I can't remember a year where they weren't negotiating with one content provider or another and there have been many years where we've temporarily lost programming due to drawn out negotiations. DirecTV, Dish and other cable providers go through the same negotiations every single year with one content provider or another. I was with Insight before Time Warner took over and went through the same shit time and again. It's simply part of the subscription TV model.

Whispers that I hear have CBS/Showtime asking for a 600% increase in the carry fees that they receive from Time Warner. Imagine if Time Warner sent you a letter telling you they were going to increase your cost of Showtime six-fold just so you could watch Dexter on time! So it's no surprise that CBS held the premiere of Showtime's most popular show until two days after their contract with Time Warner expired, knowing that it would spark this type of response.

It's just TV, so whenever this happens I find something else to watch. If there's nothing better to watch I'll go read a book or play a video game or *gasp* go outside.

Yup. NO companies are immune to this phenomenon.

 

[Othello]

Thing is: the missed episodes are likely to show up on Showtime On-Demand almost immediately after the dispute is settled. So the only way people will have to wait a year to see the episodes on home-video is if it takes more than a year to settle the dispute.

While it's more likely that it will be resolved given the channels involved Uverse to this day still doesn't have The Hallmark Channel because of a dispute like this that happened about two years ago or so.

 

[TheSeeker]

Dude. Multiquote is your friend.

 

[Vanyel]

From the News release I got, Time Warner will be giving customers prorated rebates for the time that the premium channels like Showetime, for the time they are off the air.

I should hope so, since I'm still paying for the damn thing. This really chaps my ass since two of must watch shows come on Showtime, and now I'm going to have to wait for the fucking Blu-Rays NEXT YEAR to watch them

Time Warner sucks ass and has shitty customer service. When we got the box and Showtime, we were told AMC was coming to Time Warner shortly. Well, three years later, still no AMC, and they even aired a Time Warner/AMC/Walking Dead ad during the goddamn Superbowl. I called and raised holy hell over that.

I love TW and have had awesome customer service every time I've contacted them.. Not to mention their service has been damn reliable for many many years for me.

Same here. Problems fixed quickly. Friendly representatives. I wont move from them, unless that changes. Having worked customer service I know what kind of A-holes people can be. People say things to you they would never say in public. So I know it's hard to be polite and cheerful and to make that one customer feel like he's the only one we have. They've done it without fail.

 

[publiusr]

This is why I want more regulation.

1.) No company can cahrge over 100 bucks a month--and for that you get everything. All channels, internet, 'phone--everything.
2.) all local channels and network channels must be carried by all cable and satellite companies BY LAW!!

One and two conflict and would be very bad for cable companies financially.

Boo hoo.

I'm not sure about the first of the above rules but I would unhesitatingly support the second.

If a company can't make it on a hundred bucks or month they need to shut down. The infrastructure has already been paid for--and a hundred bucks a month is just fine for the greedy bastards.

 

[Mister Fandango]

If a company can't make it on a hundred bucks or month they need to shut down. The infrastructure has already been paid for--and a hundred bucks a month is just fine for the greedy bastards.

Yes, because if, say, ten different channels decided to start charging $11 per person (just as a wild example), it's the cable/satellite dish company's fault that they can't give you all ten for $100. Simply because the infrastructure is already there.

 

[BillJ]

If a company can't make it on a hundred bucks or month they need to shut down. The infrastructure has already been paid for--and a hundred bucks a month is just fine for the greedy bastards.

This is a ridiculous statement.

I have 100 unique HD channels, just say they each charge a carry fee of a dollar, there is your hundred dollars. That doesn't factor in maintenance of infrastructure, updating technology, paying customer service reps and technicians for service calls to fix minor and major outages. They also have to charge taxes as mandated by the Federal, State and Local governments. They also have to pay to maintain services for customers who don't have HD equipment.

Then they also want to generate a profit.

 

[BillJ]

Agreement reached. Showtime is already back on here in Northern Kentucky.

 

[gblews]

Agreement reached. Showtime is already back on here in Northern Kentucky.

Same here in So. Cal. Just in time for the NFL. I have a feeling this is gong to become a regular occurrence, though.

 

[Danny99]

Welcome to the new cable industry. All your local affiliates are bought up by companies that want to make money off you and your cable provider. Then your cable provider, who do try and negotiate for your well being (I've been through this through a third party vendor for a cable company, so I have first hand experience), is unwilling to take all of those costs on, so your bill goes up.

It's greedy versus greedy and we're in the middle. The only real way to stop it is to get rid of all the affiliates and have one CBS, one NBC, etc. for everyone.

 

[ATimson]

It's greedy versus greedy and we're in the middle. The only real way to stop it is to get rid of all the affiliates and have one CBS, one NBC, etc. for everyone.

That wouldn't have solved the problem - the dispute was between TWC and CBS the corporation. Both CBS and other CBS-owned channels were unavailable. The exact same thing would've happened in your scenario (except that potentially some affiliates were still available during this blackout; none would be if there was just the national channel).

 

[Dream]

What were the details of the deal?

 

[ATimson]

What were the details of the deal?

My money's on "TWC surrendered".

 

[BillJ]

What were the details of the deal?

My money's on "TWC surrendered".

Which means people's bills will go up and they'll blame Time-Warner and not CBS.

 

[bigdaddy]

The terms of the deal is as follows....

Bend over and cough up some money.