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Discussion Forums » In The News
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MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central BYE BYE @ midni
0 likes [|reply]
31 Dec 2008, 15:59
ceterisparibus
Post Count: 12
http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/happy-new-year-time-warner-cable-to-yank-mtv-nickeodeon-comedy-central-off-the-air/

UNHAPPY NEW YEAR! Time Warner Cable To Lose Viacom's MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon & Comedy Central In NY, LA, Everywhere

WEDNESDAY AM UPDATE (refresh for breaking news): It appears that Time Warner Cable customer service was unprepared for the onslaught of complaints from subscribers flooding into call centers. Anecdotal evidence suggests that many reps were unaware of the dispute with Viacom, which began running news crawls below its programming that 19 channels would go dark on the cable system operation at 12:01 AM on January 1st. Viacom also placed full-page advertisements in some major market newspapers today featuring protests by its media programming characters, including Dora the Explorer who is shown crying because she is being taken away from her fans. The cable company says it is prepared to refund customers for the lost programming if a deal can't be reached by New Year's, though the amount hasn’t been determined yet.

TUESDAY: What an awful way to ring in 2009. It turns out that Viacom claims it has been trying to negotiate a "fair" renewal of its prized cable channels for months and months, but reputedly Time Warner Cable has been unresponsive and "unreasonable" so talks have stalled. The nation's 2nd largest cable system operator, in turn, claims Viacom is asking for "exorbitant" increases in carriage fees which would have to be passed along to the customer. So now this fight between the two Big Media giants will hurt cable viewers. At 12:01 AM on January 1st, just after the ball drops in Time Square, Time Warner Cable's 13.3 million subscribers will lose 19 Viacom channels -- Comedy Central; CMT: Pure Country; Logo; Palladia; MTV; MTV 2; MTV Hits; MTV Jams; MTV Tr3s; Nickelodeon; Noggin; Nick 2; Nicktoons; Spike; The N; TV Land; Vh1; Vh1 Classic; Vh1 Soul. The howling starts here, especially by parents home for the holidays with children who won't have access to their favorite shows like SpongeBob Squarepants and Dora The Explorer, and tweens/teens wanting to see new episodes of those new unreality Reality TV series The City and Bromance, and twentysomethings and older who get their news from The Daily Show With Jon Stewart or The Colbert Report.

This affects all U.S. Time Warner cable subscribers including those in New York and Los Angeles. Alex Dudley, a vice president at Time Warner Cable, the nation's second-largest cable operator, is telling reporters that the dispute with Viacom "is that they have asked for an exorbitant increase in their carriage fees and their network ratings are sagging." However, Nickelodeon is 2008’s No. 1 basic cable network, drawing the largest audience in its history. MTV, on the other hand, has seen ratings slide. Time Warner Cable claims it's "trying to hold the line on fees for our customer" -- but it's really worried that if Viacom gets its raises, then every cable programmer will want them. TWC claims Viacom has asked for fee increases of between 22% and 36% per channel, but Sumner Redstone's company maintains the increases would cost less than $.25 a month for the package of channels per subscriber who spend a fifth of total TV time watching Viacom shows but its fees make up less than 2.5% of the Time Warner cable bill. (Sports channels are paid the biggest cable premium). But Time Warner Cable also is complaining that Viacom's popular shows are rerun on Web sites where Viacom collects advertising revenue that it does not share with Time Warner. On the other hand, Viacom has staked much of its revenue-growth prospects on squeezing higher carriage rates out of its cable and satellite affiliates despite an ad slowdown and weaker ratings.

Such negotiation battles between cable networks and cable system operators have happened before and lasted merely hours. In 2004, for example, Viacom's cable channels disappeared from EchoStar's Dish Network for two days while both sides fought over the terms of a new contract. And Time Warner blocked ABC from its cable systems in New York during a breakdown in contract negotiations with parent company Disney. So this one will either end fast or go on forever. It probably will depend on how many subscribers start flooding Time Warner Cable with obscene calls or, worse, switch to satellite. Viacom has already started a hardball campaign to "Call Time Warner Cable and say 'NO' " starring The Hills and South Park.

This is Viacom's just issued statement:

This move by Time Warner Cable to force such channels as Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and MTV off the air is another example of a cable company overreaching for profit at the expense of its viewers.

The renewal we are seeking is reasonable and modest relative to the profits TWC enjoys from our networks. We have asked for an increase of less than 25 cents per month, per subscriber, which adds up to less than a penny per day for all 19 of MTV Networks’ channels. We make this request because TWC has so greatly undervalued our channels for so long. Americans spend more than 20% of their TV viewing time watching our networks, yet our fees amount to less than 2.5% of what Time Warner generates from their average customer.

Throughout the country, we have negotiated equitable license agreement renewals, or are in the final stages of renewals, with virtually every cable and satellite carrier. Nevertheless, Time Warner Cable has dismissed our efforts at a fair compromise and has effectively chosen to deny its customers some of the most popular TV shows on the air.

As a result, we are sorry to say that for Time Warner Cable customers our networks will go dark as of 12:01 on January 1st, denying Time Warner customers shows like Dora the Explorer, SpongeBob SquarePants, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Colbert Report, and The Hills.

Ultimately, however, if Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, MTV and the rest of our programming is discontinued – over less than a penny per day - we believe viewers will see this behavior by their cable company as outrageous.

Time Warner Cable subscribers who are being handed a January 1st $3 monthly increase in Raleigh, Orange County, Los Angeles, and New York City are simultaneously facing the removal of beloved shows across 19 channels.

We find it a shame that Time Warner Cable remains unreasonable at this time. We hope its leadership will have a change of heart and will seek to negotiate a fair renewal agreement.




What do you all think of this?
0 likes [|reply]
31 Dec 2008, 17:38
BeautifulBrownEyes
Post Count: 68
That's lame. But you can always find your shows online and download the torrent. :P Did I just say that?
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31 Dec 2008, 17:39
.Broken Angela.
Post Count: 114
i think this is BS pure bs..our cable company said we was going to loose abc, nbc and cbs. or something like that. If they dont reach agreement with those channels. So we probably will loose them at midnight tonight. What if ur not time warner cable customers do we still loose those channels? It runs across our screen i just noticed today. Actually a min ago.
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31 Dec 2008, 18:07
Tam I Am
Post Count: 311
Who's your cable company?
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31 Dec 2008, 18:25
Chris
Post Count: 1938
If you aren't TW customers, you won't lose those channels.
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31 Dec 2008, 18:26
.Broken Angela.
Post Count: 114
We are allegiance.
0 likes [|reply]
1 Jan 2009, 01:26
omg it's jessica!
Post Count: 92
i now love that comcast bought out TW in houston a few years back.

LOVE IT.
0 likes [|reply]
1 Jan 2009, 01:53
Greta Garbage
Bloop Community Organizer
Post Count: 309
Comcast bought out TW? Does that mean Comcast customers will lose those channels as well??? I have Comcast.
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1 Jan 2009, 06:30
Stbluesboy
Post Count: 93
good news for you time warner customers, they reached a deal shortly after midnight. Whew, and to think, you were gonna miss quality shows like My Super Sweet 16, and the Hills...

Time Warner Cable and Viacom reach deal

LOS ANGELES – Time Warner Cable Inc. said Wednesday it reached a deal with Viacom Inc. on carriage fees, avoiding a blackout of 19 cable channels including MTV and Comedy Central.

The two sides, citing disagreement over fee hikes, had threatened a damaging blackout at midnight Eastern time that would have cut off shows such as "SpongeBob SquarePants" and "The Colbert Report" to about 15.7 million subscribers.

Shortly after agreeing to extend a midnight deadline by an hour, Time Warner Cable spokesman Alex Dudley said the sides agreed on a new contract.

The handshake deal meant the channels will not go dark and a joint statement was expected within the hour, Dudley said.

read more at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090101/ap_on_bi_ge/viacom_time_warner_cable
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