New York City

Time Warner Cable unplugs CBS

Millions to lose access to favorite shows

August 2, 2013 By Mary Frost Brooklyn Daily Eagle
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Goodbye “NCIS,” goodbye “Judge Judy.” Also scratch “Brooklyn D.A.,” “The Big Bang Theory,” “CSI,” “Homeland” and “Two and a Half Men.”

Time Warner Cable dropped CBS stations at 5 p.m. Friday in New York, Los Angeles and Dallas. The Showtime network, FLIX, The Movie Channel and The Smithsonian Channel, owned by CBS, were also pulled.

CBS and Time Warner have been in negotiations all week.

CBS said the move was “injurious not only to our many affected viewers, but also to Time Warner Cable itself.”

Time Warner Cable said on Friday that CBS “has been making outrageous demands. CBS has refused to have a productive discussion. It’s become clear that no matter how much time we give them, they’re not willing to come to reasonable terms.”

Earlier this week New York City Comptroller John Liu said, “It is disturbing that wealthy corporate executives from multi-billion-dollar media conglomerates who were granted monopoly power by the City continue to engage in a high-stakes game of chicken that treats their customers, many of whom struggle to pay their monthly cable bills, as acceptable collateral damage.”

Liu offered the use of his boardroom and staff “to assist in negotiation to help resolve the dispute.”

Comptroller Liu sits on the New York City Franchise Concession and Review Committee, which authorizes the television franchise agreement between New York City and Time Warner Cable and provides TWC access to New York City customers.

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