Disney vs Time-Warner Part II

[Jason Carpio]

Here's copy from an email I got this morning from TWC.. I guess it's that time again

Your Cable Video Dollar
You may have heard that Time Warner Cable and Disney - the corporate owner of ABC, ESPN and the Disney cable channels - are in the middle of contract negotiations and Disney is demanding a huge increase in the fees we pay for their programming. To learn more about these negotiations and how TV works today, please visit RollOverOrGetTough.com.
Did you know that nearly 40% of your cable video dollar already goes to programmers like Disney? We have to pay these programmers to bring you the shows you love to watch. If we "roll over" to their demands, it could drive up costs for you. So we have decided to "get tough" and try to hold the line on TV prices.
At Time Warner Cable, we're working to reach a fair agreement that will keep Disney from driving up the cost of cable. But if you're thinking of changing companies - think again. The service provider you switch to - whether it's a phone, cable or satellite company - will eventually face the same demands for fee increases from Disney/ABC/ESPN or another big TV network. Switching isn't the answer. In today's economy, consumers need to stand up and speak out.
For updates, visit RollOverOrGetTough.com. Don't let Disney drive up the price of cable television. 

[Dino R. Alexander]

I got the same e-mail. Basically a response to the TV ads that my local ABC (company O&O) have been running for the counter website, ihavechoices.com.

 

Seriously, you'd think meeting in the middle would be a capital idea by now. And you know... What constitutes "fair" in this case? Anyone?

 

~D

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[Kevin M.]

ABC7 in Los Angeles is broadcasting ads informing viewers about the potential shut-off, and reminding them that they can always use phone or satellite companies as well as over-the-air signals. I note they do not state people can watch their programing on Hulu, or that if people did watch online, it would bypass the affiliate and cable companies entirely, thus eliminating this issue.

--
Kevin M. (RPCV)

[Jason Carpio]

well there's that added piece of no ESPN

Jason Carpio
jca...@gmail.com

Not sent from an iPhone

[Jim Ellwanger]

Kevin M. wrote:
> ABC7 in Los Angeles is broadcasting ads informing viewers about the
> potential shut-off, and reminding them that they can always use phone or
> satellite companies as well as over-the-air signals. I note they do not
> state people can watch their programing on Hulu, or that if people did
> watch online, it would bypass the affiliate and cable companies entirely,
> thus eliminating this issue.

...which would, I'm sure, push Time Warner into putting monthly caps on
their currently-unmetered Internet service.

At any rate, not all of KABC's programming is available online, on Hulu or
otherwise: "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy!", for example.

--
Jim Ellwanger <trai...@ellwanger.tv>
<http://www.ellwanger.tv>

[JoshG]

On Jul 28, 7:33 am, Jason Carpio <jcar...@gmail.com> wrote (quoting
TWC):

> Did you know that nearly 40% of your cable video dollar already goes to
> programmers like Disney? We have to pay these programmers to bring you the
> shows you love to watch.

My first thought upon seeing that line: Only 40% for programming?

I'd think most consumers would believe that most of the cost of cable
TV is to cover the cost of the channels subscribed to, especially
given the rather high rates already for some channels like ESPN.
Obviously there's some costs for digital terminals and infrastructure,
but it still makes it sound like it's leaving a lot of profit for TWC.
Unless the intention is to have customers believe Disney (alone) is
getting 40%?

But then I'm probably not the average cable subscriber (and in any
event, I'm not a TWC customer).

[Bob in Jersey]

Jim Ellwanger, to Kevin M.:

> ...which would, I'm sure, push Time Warner into putting monthly caps on
> their currently-unmetered Internet service.

I think my local ISP is creeping towards metering... they've
apparently killed their Usenet server. (A lot of bigger companies did
that a long time ago.)



--
BOB

[Dave Sikula]

Here we go with this kabuki again. Has any cable system actually gone
through with the threat and blocked a major broadcaster for a
prolonged period of time?

--Dave Sikula

[David Lynch]

I've seen a dispute last several weeks, but this was a case where a
second affiliate of the same network covered the same area* and the
cable provider worked out a temporary carriage deal with them.

* - The town in question is 30 miles from the UHF transmitter out of
Austin and 45 miles from the VHF transmitter for Temple/Killeen/Waco.
Although I'd imagine that most people there would identify more with
Austin, it's probably a a toss-up from location to location as to
which signal is stronger at any given point.

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[televisiongirl]

On Wed, Jul 28, 2010 at 11:31 AM, Kevin M. <drunkba...@gmail.com> wrote:

ABC7 in Los Angeles is broadcasting ads informing viewers about the potential shut-off, and reminding them that they can always use phone or satellite companies as well as over-the-air signals.

Channel 7 here in New York is doing the same. 

On Thu, Jul 29, 2010 at 12:11 PM, Dave Sikula <dsi...@yahoo.com> wrote:

>> Here we go with this kabuki again. Has any cable system actually gone

through with the threat and blocked a major broadcaster for a

prolonged period of time?

Back during the May sweep in 2000, WABC was off in NYC for several days because, surprise, Disney was fighting with Time Warner Cable over ESPN.  Most of the anger was directed at Time Warner at the time and the City's consumer affairs department and franchising commission punished TW.  Subscribers got either a free month of a pay channel or a couple of free PPV movies that summer.

I don't have Time Warner (odd, RCN never has these problems) so I get to watch from the sidelines.

TVG