Time Warner Cable-CBS Spat Wages On

NEW YORK: Time Warner Cable has dropped CBS owned-and-operated stations from its cable operations in New York, Los Angeles and Dallas, after the two failed to reach a negotiation about retransmission fees.

The talks broke down on July 30, resulting in TWC dropping the CBS stations for less than half an hour. The two quickly agreed to restore the stations and continue negotiations. The next deadline was August 2 at 5 p.m. When no new deal had been reached by then, CBS stations in the three cities went dark. Showtime, TCM, Flix and Smithsonian channel have also been dropped.

Due to the blackout, TWC subscribers in those cities missed out this weekend on the World Golf Championships: Bridgestone Invitational. Additionally, viewers are missing out on CBS Sports’ coverage of the PGA Championships, starting August 8 through 11, as well as the Wyndham Championship on August 17 and 18.

Glenn Britt, Time Warner Cable’s CEO, said in a statement: "We regret that CBS has put Time Warner Cable and, most importantly, our customers in this position….

"We exist as a company to connect people to the things they love and CBS’s shows and sports are a few of those things. We want to put CBS back on the air at a price that makes sense for us and our customers. That’s not war, that’s what our customers say they want—good programming at a fair price and on reasonable terms. We hope CBS will join us at the negotiating table and agree to a contract that is in the best interest of not only CBS, but everyone who enjoys watching television."

CBS issued a separate statement: "What CBS seeks, and what we always have sought from the beginning, is fair compensation for the most-watched television network with the most popular content in the world. We will not accept less. We will not sign away rights not granted to others. We will not give up our channel position or any other asset by which our viewers identify us. We will also not be subjected to pointless maneuvers like a series of one-hour extensions and mini-drops that do nothing for either side but annoy our viewers. We hope and believe this period of darkness will be short and that we can all get back to the business of providing the best entertainment, news and sports to the Time Warner Cable customers we both serve."