WATCH VIDEO. CBS and Time Warner Cable have agreed to a deal that will restore CBS programming to 3.2 million cable customers in New York, Los Angeles and Dallas.
Programming for all CBS broadcast channels, as well as Showtime, TMC, Flix, CBS Sports Network and the Smithsonian Channel, was restored for TWC subscribers on Monday, September 2 after a month-long black-out.
The argument leading to the removal of the CBS channels was about the fees CBS asked TWC to pay.
Without revealing any financial details, Glenn Britt, chairman and CEO, TWC, said a statement: “As in all of our negotiations, we wanted to hold down costs and retain our ability to deliver a great video experience for our customers. While we certainly didn’t get everything we wanted, ultimately we ended up in a much better place than when we started. We are also encouraged by the 50+ consumer organisations and legislators that supported our call for Congress and the FCC to reassess the 1992 retransmission consent rules. The rules are woefully out of date, are the primary reason cable bills are rising, and too frequently leave our customers without the programming they love.”
“This was a far more protracted dispute than anyone at CBS anticipated, but in spite of the pain it caused to all of us, and most importantly the inconvenience to our viewers who were affected, it was an important one, and one worth pursuing to a satisfactory conclusion,” said CBS CEO Leslie Moonves to CBS News. “That has been achieved.”
