El Cosmico here, that's right, you heard correctly, Darth Siskel alerted me to this mess, which apparently hasn't affected Time Warner Austin yet, but seems to have taken out the big NYC. Granted, I don't know all the facts here, and I don't watch a lot of ABC in the first place, so I don't really care too much, but this just seems EVIL.Here's the note I got from our pal Darth Siskel:Let me start this by saying.... WHAT THE FUCK !?!?!!
Sometime around midnight tonight (eastern time), Time Warner Cable
stopped carrying ABC.
I have a bluescreen that says in big letters
"DISNEY HAS TAKEN ABC AWAY FROM YOU", followed by an explaination of
why.
This sucks, now I don't get to see Celebrity Who Wants to Be a
Millionaire!
I checked Time-Warner Cable's website and found the dirty details.
http://twcnyc.com/whats_up/press_kit/press11.html
Here's what they say:
Disney Has Pulled its ABC Signal Off
Eleven Key Time Warner Cable Systems
New York, New York - At 12:01am on May 1, The Walt
Disney Company, which owns ABC, pulled its ABC
broadcast signal from Time Warner cable systems in 11
markets around the country, affecting approximately 3.5
million households.
Disney is trying to inappropriately use its ownership of ABC
to extract excessive and unreasonable terms for its cable
channels - terms that would add hundreds of millions of
dollars in costs for Time Warner Cable and its customers.
In the past week, Time Warner has made two reasonable
proposals to Disney that would have kept ABC on Time
Warner cable systems through the end of the year.
Unfortunately, Disney has decided to single out Time Warner
customers by rejecting both proposals, while recently
agreeing
to similar long-term extensions with other cable companies.
"Disney's repeated threats, deadlines and short-term
extensions have caused our customers great frustration and
anxiety," said Barry Rosenblum, President, Time Warner
Cable of New York City. "We regret any temporary
inconvenience, but we're not going to let Disney force our
customers to 'walk the plank' one more time. Our primary goal
is to put our customers first."
Federal law says no cable company can carry a broadcast TV
signal without the broadcaster's permission. Disney's
rejection
of our offers unfortunately means we do not have permission
to retransmit their ABC signal. "Disney withheld consent;
therefore, Disney is responsible for our customers losing
ABC," said Rosenblum.
Time Warner has successfully reached agreements with every
other broadcast company in the country. In January, Time
Warner reached a long-term agreement with Disney, but
Disney reneged at the last minute. Since then, Time Warner
has worked hard to convince Disney to act reasonably and
place customers' interests first. Disney has refused all
offers
and continues to make excessive demands.
"Our goal is to put customers first," said Rosenblum. "Our
most recent offers would have done that. We continue to
believe that the best way to resolve the situation is to
extend
our existing agreement through the end of the year while we
continue to negotiate a long-term agreement."
Time Warner is committed to getting ABC back on cable for
its customers. Until then, Time Warner will be providing
substitute programming and services. In addition, customers
can continue watching WABC's over-the-air broadcast signal
by using an antenna with an A/B switch. An A/B switch can
be purchased at most electronics retailers. Time Warner will
credit customers up to $15.00 for the cost of the A/B switch.
To receive credit, customers are advised to send proof of
purchase (include your name, address and phone number) to
Time Warner Cable of New York City; 25-20 Brooklyn
Queens Expressway, Woodside, New York 11377; attention:
Accounts Receivable/AB Switch.
Time Warner Cable in New York City
(http://www.twcnyc.com) serves over one million customers
in Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island and portions of
Brooklyn. The company also manages Paragon Cable/Mt.
Vernon, Time Warner Cable of Bergen & Hudson Counties of
New Jersey, Time Warner CityCable Advertising and NY1
News.
Well, what can I say, folks, this seems to check out, and that means there are some seriously messed-up minds at work making all of this happen. If you've got more info on this from various parts of the country, please email me and let me know!-El Cosmicomail me at: elcosmico@austin.rr.com First Update: A reader from the west coast sends us this fun info, the epidemic of evil spreads its greasy tongue over our land...Hey,
Just read your article on aicn ... here in LA, the local ABC affiliate has
been broadcasting a text bar across the bottom of it's feed saying it's
extended service to time warner customers til May 24th (I think) in hopes
an agreement will be made. Doesn't affect me (I'm in Pasadena with Charter
Communications), but I think it affects people in the San Fernando Valley
and in Orange County and Long Beach/South Bay. Keep the info flowing, folks...-El Cosmico
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