This morning when I turned on my TV, there was a message from the cable company saying that they were in negotiation with ABC and that if they don't agree on something, ABC will no longer be aired on our cable.
cable company memo
Quote:
# ABC is threatening to pull the plug on WABC-7 unless Cablevision and its customers agree to pay millions of dollars in new fees. Cablevision has asked ABC to continue delivering WABC-7, but instead ABC is holding Cablevision customers hostage by threatening to pull its programming.
# In these difficult and challenging economic times, it is not fair for ABC to force Cablevision and its customers to pay what amounts to a new TV tax for the same programming that is available today for free over the air and on the Internet.
# Cablevision already pays ABC's parent company more than $200 million per year to carry its channels; now ABC wants a 20 percent fee increase for exactly the same programming.
# It is wrong for ABC to demand $40 million in new fees to help pay the salaries and bonuses for top ABC executives.
# Cablevision has tried in good faith to reach a fair agreement with ABC. In fact, top Cablevision executives traveled to ABC offices in California earlier this month, and had lengthy face-to-face meetings this week in Bethpage and New York City. We have made numerous proposals, all of which have been rejected.
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They make it sound like ABC wants $40 million from them, or they will stop airing on Cablevision.
Then you go to ABC7 site and it sounds totally opposite.
ABC7
Quote:
Thank you for helping to make ABC7 New York's favorite television station. We work hard to earn your support every day by bringing you the best in local news, community affairs and top-quality entertainment programming.
Unfortunately, as of March 7th, ABC7 may no longer be carried on Cablevision systems.
For the past two years we have tried, without success, to reach an agreement with Cablevision to carry ABC7. Why? Because Cablevision's position is that ABC7 is worth little to nothing to its business and its proposed offers have been consistently unreasonable and unrealistic.
In fact, ABC7 delivers some of the most popular programming carried on Cablevision today, shows like LOST, Grey's Anatomy, Jeopardy, Dancing with the Stars, Wheel of Fortune, Desperate Housewives, General Hospital, Regis and Kelly, Modern Family, The Academy Awards, The Oprah Winfrey Show and Eyewitness News.
We think these shows are valuable. And your bill shows that Cablevision must agree, since you already pay for ABC7 as part of your Broadcast Basic Tier – a service for which, as a Cablevision customer, you pay as much as $18 each month.
What your bill doesn’t show is how much Cablevision pays us for these programs.
The answer: They Pay Nothing. That’s right...Cablevision charges you for ABC7 and then keeps ALL the money.
We will continue to work with Cablevision to reach a fair agreement, but regardless of the outcome, ABC7 is available to you through a variety of other providers, including Verizon FiOS, AT&T U-verse and DIRECTV, and, as always, FREE over-the-air.
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I am so confused. How can you tell which one is telling the truth? I hear people talking about it around the office, they either side with ABC or the cable company. How can you decide which one to side with if you don't know which one to believe?