After extending talks beyond the original expiration of their retransmission consent contract with Time Warner Cable on 7/1, all Hearst O&O stations except one (WISN-ABC Milwaukee) are dark across the country on the MSO’s systems. Negotiations broke down because, according to Time Warner, Hearst wants a 300% increase in compensation for its stations’ programming on TWC systems across the country.
Hearst stations pulled their signals at midnight on 7/10. Negotiations had continued during the extension period that Hearst had granted through 7/9.
The Hearst stations that are not currently being carried by Time Warner Cable include: WTAE-ABC Pittsburgh, WLWT-NBC Cincinnati, KITV-ABC Honolulu; WCVB-ABC Boston; WMTW-ABC Portland ME; WNNE-NBC Hartford VT/Hanover, NH; WPTZ-NBC Plattsburg NY; WPTZ-D2 -This TV Plattsburgh NY; WXII-NBC Winston-Salem NC; KCWE-CW and KMBC-ABC Kansas City MO; KETV-ABC Lincoln NE and WLKY-CBS Louisville.
WISN said it has an existing agreement to provide transport to Charter Communications of the Hearst WISN feed “so long as Hearst has provided us retransmission consent, which they have until further notice.”
WESH-TV Orlando has also been impacted because TWC handles programming negotiations for Bright House Networks—the MSO in that market.
TWC issued the following statement: “Tonight, Hearst Television has chosen to black out their signals from our customers rather than continue negotiations, despite their CEO saying just two weeks ago that broadcaster blackouts are unfair to consumers. Time Warner Cable has reached hundreds of agreements with other broadcasters without broadcaster blackouts, but Hearst’s demand for a nearly 300% increase is way out of line. That kind of outrageous increase is unfair to our customers and unsustainable for our business. We believe broadcaster blackouts are wrong. Despite Hearst’s blackout, we stand ready to continue negotiations and are hopeful that their stations will be returned to our lineups shortly.”
Hearst Television’s President, David Barrett, said, “The parties ultimately could not come to terms on fees. The fees we are asking are based on the fees we are being paid (with no disruption of service) by other cable companies in over 150 other recently concluded agreements—this fact is the real measure, not Time Warner’s exaggerated and distorted claims, of the fairness of our proposal.
“This,” Barrett said, “contrasts with Time Warner’s disruptions of service and withdrawal of carriage of local television stations in other cases.
“Time Warner’s characterization of the percentage increase in carriage fees we are seeking is inaccurate. We have sought a reasonable increase consistent with the increased costs we have to pay for our highly valued programming and the carriage fees now paid to us by Time Warner’s competitors. Time Warner is seeking a significant discount of market-based fees that is neither fair nor reasonable.
“We sincerely regret the inconvenience Time Warner Cable has imposed on its subscribers and those of Bright House and Insight, and we will continue to negotiate.
“Contrary to Time Warner’s claim, we have not ‘blacked out’ our station,” Barrett noted. “Viewers may continue to receive our stations for free, over the air, or by satellite from DIRECTV or DISH, and, in many areas, from other cable operators.”
On its website, TWC is directing subscribers to ways they can see programming via an antenna and digital TV tuner and online. TWC also has made arrangements to bring national network programming in some of its markets from stations in other cities, including: WLKY with WROC Rochester, NY (CBS); WLWT with WTWO Terre Haute IN (NBC); and WNNE, WPTZ and WXII with WBRE Wilkes Barre, PA (NBC).
Every Time Warner Cable customer should be ashamed of both David J. Barrett and Hearst for this blackout that result in the viewers from being able to watch their favorite shows with Time Warner Cable. I feel that David J. Barrett and Hearst are trying to be like the Neil Bogarts of Casablanca Records fame of the 1970’s disco era, the David Smith (one of the Smith brothers from Sinclair Broadcast Group), the Harry Pappas as part of the Pappas Telecasting Companies, the Bernard Madoff’s, the Enron’s, the Worldcom’s, the Adelphia’s, the Tyco’s, and the Martha Stewart’s, of the 2000’s by letting broadcast greed get out of control so all of the head employees and bosses at Hearst to be able to enjoy carefree lavishly spending to support carefree lavishly lifestyles with luxurious homes, luxurious jets, luxurious cars, join luxurious clubs, and have other luxurious items just to make them very happy then trying and willingness to improve the quality of all the stations they owned and control and making the viewers happy as well. I hope and I wish that David J. Barrett and Hearst get scolded by both by the ACA and the FCC for making the viewers being forced to deal with this blackout because they could not make a deal to get the stations back to it’s customers sooner and with a fair deal with Time Warner Cable. I hope and I wish that David J. Barrett and Hearst is barred from buying and owning anymore TV stations in the future after their final decision to remove the stations from Time Warner Cable. I feel that David J. Barrett and Hearst are trying to bribe like the General Tire/RKO General of the 1960’s and 1970’s by not being very honest of not only the viewers by making them miss the shows on Time Warner Cable and also on themselves. I hope and I wish that the FCC would force David J. Barrett and Hearst to allow Time Warner Cable to carry it’s stations without any interference before the olympics and football season starts, in the event David J. Barrett and Hearst fails to allow Time Warner Cable to carry it’s stations again, then the FCC would force David J. Barrett and Hearst to allow Time Warner Cable to import out of market stations that are very real close to the station being blacked out being affiliated with the same network, in the event David J. Barrett and Hearst fails to allow Time Warner Cable to import out of market stations that are very real close to the station being blacked out being affiliated with the same network, then the FCC would allow Time Warner Cable to carry the out of market station with the same affiliation without any restrictions and also be allowed to continue to carry the out of market station that it’s digital television signal is reachable by a outdoor antenna including both it’s SD and HD feeds on the cable system even after the dispute is over without any interference for 12 whole years to meet FCC rules and regulators. I feel that both David J. Barrett and Hearst are way too busy being the Rebecca Black Friday and Double Take Hot Problems as well as trying be act like the Lyle and Erik Menendez’s as the greedy murderers, the Jeffrey Ireland’s and the Patrick Jones’s as the drunks, the Rodney Dangerfield’s, the John Belushi’s, and the Chris Farley’s as the comedians, the John Robert Ewing’s and the Cliff Barnes’s, the Charles Montgomery Burn’s, the Homer and Bart Simpson’s, the Peter Griffin’s, the Garfield cats, the Cookie Monster’s, the Miss Piggy’s, the Victor Newman’s of the broadcasting industry of not coming to reach a deal with Time Warner Cable to carry it’s stations to the viewers everyday. I feel that both David J. Barrett and Hearst are trying to turn into the 1919 Chicago White Sox’s baseball team and the Southern Methodist University football of the 1980’s to force Time Warner Cable to accept a take it or leave it deal to carry it’s stations. I urge all of the viewers with Time Warner Cable to boycott both David J. Barrett and Hearst right now for making the Time Warner Cable viewers suffer from being able to watch their favorite shows.
In the case of Time Warner Cable Nebraska, Fremont could carry both SD and HD feeds of either KCAU(Sioux City) or KLKN(Lincoln) or both, Columbus, Nebraska City, Auburn, Tecumseh, Table Rock, Pawnee City and Humboldt could carry both SD and HD feeds of KLKN(Lincoln), and Falls City could carry both SD and HD feeds of KLKN(Lincoln) and KQTV(Saint Joseph, Missouri) all from the leading Time Warner Cable headend in Lincoln, Nebraska as a temporary replacement for KETV on those Time Warner Cable systems without any difficulties and any interference from KETV owner and parent.
Don’t know WTF Cieloha (above) is talking about, but I say pay them what they want….. as long as they agree to being 100% a la carte. Not automatically added to a customers package, but rather added at request.
This is the only way we can migrate to an a la carte system which, if the cable companies want to save themselves, will realize is the only way to do so.
I think it should be the other way around. ABC, NBC, CBS and others make money by charging advertisers. They are the one who should be paying Time Warner for distributing their programs. This would also cut the cost of Cable TV for the general pubic cable subcribers.
I’m sort of glad its been blocked out. I’ve been watching World News for years and now I’ve basically been forced to try out one of the other stations. I now watch the NBC to get my latest world news and so far, not bad. I think I’ll stop watching ABC world news now. Also, I’ve been pretty disappointed in Mark Baden flubbing up his forecast. I’ve seen his predictions go the other way one too many times. The other day he said no way we get rain because we’re stuck in a drought even though the computer suggested its possible… Next day what happens? Rain. Sorry channel 12. I’m going to see what the other networks are up to. When you come back, I won’t be here. Ha!
Hearst in this case is not the problem it is time Werner who is responsible! Time Werner is blaming Hearst for the black out when Time werner is solely responsible for these blackouts for refusing to negotiation with hearst. Hearst is only asking for what they have been paid and Time Werner response is to blame Hearst and tell people “oh Time Werner is so poor we are just and struggling compiany who can’t afford to pay Hearst so call hearst and fight for the little guy time Werner” Time Werner is lying to it’s customser! So please people if you want your ABC programming back please deonat any spare change to Time Werner Glenn Britt because this 48 billion dollar company can’t afford to work out a deal without changing you more money.
Report these money hungry bastards to the FCC for lying to you and denying you from ABC because you are never going to see ABC again on Time Werner unless you do something! In the mean time enjoy the carpy hallmark movie channel that Glenn Britt has decide to replace ABC with and enjoy old programming of shity movies and reruns of little house on the pairia while you miss what is really going on in the world. Enjoy being humiliated as a human bing by Time Werner and Glenn Britt and enjoy your slavey of choice of Zionist programming.
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