Fight To The Wire Between Time Warner Cable and Viacom

[brunota2003]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081231/ap_ ... rner_cable

I personally say go Time Warner! About time someone stuck up for the little guys. Viacom can go shut it for all I care, I'll find other ways to watch my favorite shows. I already wrote Viacom an e-mail telling them how disgusted I was that they want a hike rate during a Recession! To top it off, the areas Time Warner serves has a lot of military communities in them. Needless to say, I believe these channels will go offline tonight at 12:01 a.m.

[Miss Mary]

My husband's ready to go back to Satellite TV. We're waiting to see if a deal is made otherwise if we lose all these channels, we'll probably switch to Dish Network again.

I just told him, all I care about is that I can tune in Lost!

But seriously, rates keep going up and up......

[southerngale]

I had Time Warner until Rita hit. We had electricity back after a few weeks, but cable took months. Needing an escape at times, I called Dish Network and had satellite within a few days. I will NEVER go back to cable again. I'm a very happy Dish customer.

[lurkey]

blah, what I watch is on the internet anyway . . .

[O Town]

The kids are in an uproar over here.
MOM, they are turning off Nick., VH1, and MTV!!!!!!!
I had no idea this was going on till I called my cable provider
(Brighthouse, formerly Time Warner) and heard what Viacom is trying to do.
Triple the rates! I love my channels and so do my kids, but that is insane. At least
the kids can watch Miley on MTV tonight. Hopefully they come to some kind of
agreement. And if not my normal cable bill better be cheaper without
the list of channels Viacom plans on cutting.

OKAY, GOSH DANG IT!
Its 8pm and Miley is supposed to be on MTV and they had
the cartoon network on??????? Playing some crap. What is
going on? Okay now all the sudden Cartoon network isnt
on either and now its dead air.
Its no where near midnight, why are they messing with the
channels. This sux!

[Miss Mary]

It's like Y2K - all over again!

LOL

Sorry, first thought that popped in my head (we imagined we'd be living w/o so many things didn't we?). I did tell my 18 yo daughter we may switch to Sat. because we are losing a "bunch" of channels at midnight. I at least got a response while she was chatting with friends on facebook. Usually I can't her attention for anything when she's on her laptop......but this time she paid attention! Her first thought - MTV!

I do like Comedy Central, we're big Daily Show and S. Colbert fans here......

I keep hoping they'll reach an agreement before midnight? I hope so......

[mf_dolphin]

YOU CAN"T TAKE AWAY MY SPIKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[JonathanBelles]

Its 3 hours till the ball drops, saving a batch of television channels would be the last thing on my mind. I really dont expect anything tonight. If it happens, it happens either way.

[lurkey]

Viacom Threatens To Pull Content Offline
While Time Warner tells us customers will see refunds...
06:04PM Wednesday Dec 31 2008 by Karl Bode

Tipped by PhoenixDown
This morning we noted how a feud between Time Warner Cable and Viacom could result in Time Warner Cable and BrightHouse customers losing Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central and 16 other channels. The fight has gotten consistently more ugly as the day has progressed, with Viacom blasting the screens of both BrightHouse and TWC customers warning them that not only will customers lose access to Viacom channels on cable, but that they'll lose access to online content.


It's not exactly clear how Viacom plans to seriously enforce that threat. There's a multitude of broadband-delivery alternatives for customers who need their Daily Show or South Park fix, and it's obviously highly unlikely Viacom could or would ban Roadrunner and Bright House IPs from accessing them.

Time Warner Cable seems to be taking the threat seriously, Twittering that they internally believe Viacom will attempt to "block our customers from the same full Web experience that they provide everyone else for free." "They're going to take all their video content off the Web and ruin it for everybody," insists the company. The company repeated this sentiment when we contacted them for comment.

"They can block IP addresses, or ranges of IP addresses," insists a Time Warner Cable spokesman. "Of course, we are talking about a company that prepares a multimillion dollar media blitz to hammer us publicly while claiming to negotiate in 'good faith,'" he says. "So who knows what they're prepared to pull."


Given purging the Internet of Viacom content is technically difficult if not impossible (especially considering piracy), the threat is likely a scare tactic being used by the company to get additional customer call volume sent in Time Warner Cable's direction. Viacom probably knows that if customers know they can get content online, for free -- it weakens negotiations (Time Warner says they want rate increases of between 22 percent and 36 percent per channel).

Viacom is also running ads alerting customers of the dispute. The American Cable Association is firing back via press release, calling the channel crawlers and other alerts "the most foolish and inflammatory message(s) we have seen to date." Meanwhile, Time Warner Cable spokesman Jeff Simmermon tells us that whatever happens, customers will automatically be seeing refunds applied to their bills.

do it!, do it!

I doubt iTunes will be real happy about this . . . I smell a lawsuit from them if Viacom does this. . . besides I know where to download it from less than legal sources and I am not afraid to do it. . .

Alternative LEGAL sources of Viacom programming

Also, they are available on I-Tunes for purchase. . . .

[brunota2003]

They reached a deal right after an hour extension of the deadline. Details unknown ATT though.

[lurkey]

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Viacom And Time Warner Cable Reach "Agreement In Principle"; TWC Subscribers Don't Lose Viacom's MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon & Comedy Central In NY, LA, Everywhere

ThURSDAY AM UPDATE: Both Viacom and Time Warner Cable took their revenue battle to the brink. Less than an hour before TWC's 13.3 million subscribers were going to lose 19 Viacom channels at 12:01 AM today, the two Big Media companies came to an agreement. Here was their joint statement:

TIME WARNER CABLE, VIACOM REACH AGREEMENT IN PRINCIPLE
Networks Will Continue to Be Available On All Time Warner Cable Systems

New York, NY - Jan. 1, 2009 — Time Warner Cable (NYSE:TWC) and Viacom (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B) jointly announced this morning that they have reached an agreement in principle to renew carriage for Viacom’s MTV Networks. The companies expect to finalize the details of the agreement over the next several days.

Glenn Britt, President and CEO of Time Warner Cable said, "We are pleased that our customers will continue to be able to watch the programming they enjoy on MTV Networks. We are sorry they had to endure a day of public disagreement as we worked through this negotiation."

Philippe Dauman, President and CEO of Viacom said, "We’ve been partners with Time Warner Cable for a long time, and we’re happy to be renewing that partnership for the benefit of their customers and our loyal viewers. It’s gratifying that we could reach an agreement that benefits not only our audiences but that is also in the best interest of both of our companies."

[Miss Mary]

How nice to wake up and see these channels. LOL! And yes I did stay up late but I didn't check to see if we had these channels or not (forgot actually!)....

[CajunMama]

Cox communications is getting ready to have competition here in lafayette. Lafayette utility system is getting ready for "fiber-to-the-home". Residents will be able to get their phone, internet, cable from the city. I don't know what channels the cable will include and i don't know how the speed compares to what i have now. I'll be looking into it though.

The first option will cost $84.85 per month for expanded basic video, with more than 80 channels; Internet service of up to 10 megabits per second; and phone service that will include three-way calling, call waiting, anonymous call rejection and 5-cents-per-minute long distance service in the continental United States.

The second option, VIP Silver, will cost $137.21 per month. That package will feature digital plus video, with more than 250 channels, including some in high-definition; Internet service of up to 30 megabits per second; and phone service with additional features such as automatic callback, selective call rejection, outgoing call blocking, speed dialing and intercom.

The most expense bundle, VIP Gold, will be $199.99 per month. Included in that package will be digital plus video, with more than 250 channels, as well as premium movie suites with more than 45 other channels; Internet service of up to 50 megabits per second; and phone service with a premium features package and unlimited long distance.

LUS unveils fiber prices

[Derek Ortt]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081231/ap_on_bi_ge/viacom_time_warner_cable

I personally say go Time Warner! About time someone stuck up for the little guys. Viacom can go shut it for all I care, I'll find other ways to watch my favorite shows. I already wrote Viacom an e-mail telling them how disgusted I was that they want a hike rate during a Recession! To top it off, the areas Time Warner serves has a lot of military communities in them. Needless to say, I believe these channels will go offline tonight at 12:01 a.m.

What kind of position is that? This is not about sticking up for the little guy. This is called Crime Warner does not want to pay the going rate for a given channel. They pulled this in my hometown area with the CBS affiliate (they did not want to pay a whopping $.01 per subscriber hike) They are the bad guys. The network has just as much of a right to make some money as everyone else. And don't start spewing that recession stuff... cable rates are going up across the board... network fees also can increase

[Frank2]

I noticed that crawl ad on TV Land the other day (I have Comcast) - glad the problem was ironed out...

Frank