ABC/Disney dispute with Cablevision

[SpenceOlchin]

Anyone on here, hear about the dispute between Cablevision and ABC/Disney? Apparently, it's over money (what else is new?) and ABC is threatening to pull WABC and WPVI off of Cablevision systems if a deal can't be reached by midnight Saturday. Here's a link to an article with more:

http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf...ll_signal.html


Edit: New York Times piece:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/03/bu...a/03cable.html

[OOliver]

Yes! Barbara Walters mentioned this on "The View" yesterday morning (Mar 2), since it effects the following ABC shows: 'The View', 'The Barbara Walters Oscar Special', 'Oscar's Red Carpet' (co-hosted by "The View's" own Sherri Shepherd), and 'The Oscars'.

Walters let viewers know they had options before Saturday: switch to Direct TV, FiOS, or drop their cable and have 'free TV'.

Let's face it - 'The Oscars' (as well as 'Red Carpet' and 'BW Special') are ratings winners for ABC who will collect millions of dollars from advertisers, so they can't afford to be shut out of these big markets due to a cable squabble...and watch advertisers walk away.

[robyrob]

the only show worth watching on abc anymore is LOST, and that only has 10 episodes left (I'm assuming that they've already slammed the door shut on Scrubs and Better Off Ted), so I could care less if they take it off my cable.

I sure as heck don't want to pay an extra $3 per month on my bill for abc.

[Pavan]

robyrob do you even have Cablevision? WABC-7 is the only ABC affiliate affected. I know you kept complaining your local ABC would cut stuff out, so if you do you have WABC, how come it has never happened to me?

And Cablevision was already charging subscribers for WABC. Subscribers just didn't know it. And they never paid WABC anything for it.

[TV Knowledge Fan]

Well, I'll tell you, anyway!

BOTH sides are greedy. Cablevision and ABC/Disney are suffering significant losses of revenue these days [ABC News is cutting back on most of its staff; there's absolutely no truth to the ridiculous rumor they're planning to "recycle" old news reports by overdubbing new voice tracks so that "Fidel Castro addressing the UN" is reinterpreted as "Hillary Clinton previewing offbeat charity event costume before General Assembly while addressing current Afghanistan crisis"]. Now, each of them are saying the other is "heartless", "cruel", and everything else short of censorship, determined to spoil YOUR enjoyment of WABC-TV by forcing it off Cablevision's New York lineup. A similar dispute happened between Fox and Time-Warner Cable [again, in New York] a while ago- they've temporarily patched their differences....the outcome of this one, ehhhh........

I'm sure glad I subscribe to Comcast!

[comedyfreak]

Another option may be Dish Net....Comcast is such a ripoff I'm glad I dropped them.

[spunkygirl]

Another article:

http://www.welovesoaps.net/2010/03/w...-abc.html#more

As of Monday March 8 soap fans may not get to see their soaps if they have Cablevision and live in Long Island, Westchester, Brooklyn, the Bronx and selected suburbs of Connecticut and New Jersey because for the past two years ABC7 has tried, without success, to reach an agreement with Cablevision to carry ABC7. Why? Because Cablevision's position is that "ABC7 is worth little to nothing to its business and its proposed offers have been consistently unreasonable and unrealistic." Fans can visit www.saveABC7.com to make their voices heard and for details on how to switch providers.

Below is a copy of an open letter from President and General Manager of ABC7, Rebecca Campbell.

Year after year, ABC7 is the most watched station in New York…and the country. Unfortunately, as of March 7, ABC7 may no longer be carried on Cablevision systems in Long Island, Westchester, Brooklyn, the Bronx and selected suburbs of Connecticut and New Jersey. For the past two years ABC7 has tried, without success, to reach an agreement with Cablevision to carry ABC7. Why? Because Cablevision's position is that ABC7 is worth little to nothing to its business and its proposed offers have been consistently unreasonable and unrealistic. And that's a shame.

ABC7 delivers some of the most popular programming carried on Cablevision today, shows like General Hospital, All My Children, One Life to Live, The View, Regis and Kelly, Oprah, Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, Dancing with the Stars, and so much more. We think these shows are valuable. And Cablevision's bills show that they agree, since their customers already pay for ABC7 as part of the Broadcast Basic Tier…a service for which customers pay as much as $18 each month. What the bill doesn't who is how much Cablevision pays ABC7 for these programs…nothing! That's right, they charge customers for ABC7 then keep ALL the money.ABC7 will continue to work with Cablevision to reach a fair agreement, but regardless of the outcome, ABC7 is available to those areas in New York through a variety of other providers as well as free, over the air. Customers can visit www.saveABC7.com to make their voices heard and for details on how to switch providers.

[robyrob]

Originally Posted by Pavan

robyrob do you even have Cablevision? WABC-7 is the only ABC affiliate affected. I know you kept complaining your local ABC would cut stuff out, so if you do you have WABC, how come it has never happened to me?

i have Time Warner, but I have been through their negotiations with the local NBC, FOX and CBS affiliates/networks, and each time the network said they were only asking for "pennies per subscriber" and it translated into an increase of $15 to $20 on my bill.

i am expecting to see more network affiliates doing a lot more tough negotiating with cable and satellite companies as their profits decline.

[SpenceOlchin]

WABC off of Cablevision for now...

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/pos...stroke_of.html

Edit: WPVI also removed from Cablevision systems:

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?se...nfo&id=7314004

[TJL]

Looks like I picked the wrong weekend to visit my parents in New Jersey.

They have Cablevision, and ABC is gone.

Looks like I'm watching the Oscars on my laptop.

[TJL]

My question is, who pullled the plug? Which side decided to cut the signal?

[SpenceOlchin]

Probably ABC. They also pulled the digital subchannels such as Live Well HD from Cablevision.

[TV_Fan]

It was ABC who is just as guilty, if not more, than Cablevision. These corportate giants couldn't care less about the subscribers who are getting affected. It's all about $$$$ and advertising dollars. If I didn't have a choice I'd cancel cable & just watch TV over the air or online. Unfortutantely due to where I live & signal reception I over the air TV wouldn't work for me and I'm not a fan of watching TV online.

[Brent88]

All the more reason to ditch overpriced and pathetic poor service cable.

[spunkygirl]

I hope Cablevision doesn't cave into those greedy jerks. Stand your ground!