Effective 5:00 PM Eastern Time, Time
Warner Cable has dropped CBS in New York City, Los Angeles, Dallas and several
other markets. We deeply regret this ill-advised action, which is injurious
not only to our many affected viewers, but also to Time Warner Cable itself.
Throughout this process, Time Warner Cable has conducted negotiations in a
combative and non-productive spirit, indulging in pointless brinksmanship and
distorted public positioning – such as the fictional and ridiculous 600%
increase CBS supposedly demanded – while maintaining antiquated positions no
longer held by any other programming distributor in the business. CBS, for its
part, is eager to make an agreement in line with the kind it has struck with
every other cable, satellite and telco provider, and has continually sought
reasonable term extensions to get that job done. This is the first time in its
history that CBS has been dropped from a cable system. Time Warner Cable, on
the other hand, has a long history of taking channels off the air – more than
50 in the last five years alone. It has also chosen to drop Showtime, which is
owned by CBS, a move that is completely unnecessary and totally punitive to
its subscribers.
What CBS seeks, and what we always have sought from the beginning, is fair
compensation for the most-watched television network with the most popular
content in the world. We will not accept less. We will not sign away rights
not granted to others. We will not give up our channel position or any other
asset by which our viewers identify us. We will also not be subjected to
pointless maneuvers like a series of one-hour extensions and mini-drops that
do nothing for either side but annoy our viewers. We hope and believe this
period of darkness will be short and that we can all get back to the business
of providing the best entertainment, news and sports to the Time Warner Cable
customers we both serve.
SOURCE CBS Corporation
Contact: Dana McClintock, 212-975-1077, dlmcclintock@cbs.com; Shannon Jacobs,
212-975-3161, sljacobs@cbs.com
-0- Aug/02/2013 21:09 GMT
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