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Author Topic: ABC-TV vs. Cablevision in Tri-State area Bill Gabel Film God Posts: 3873 From: Technicolor / Postworks NY, USA Registered: Jan 2002 posted 03-07-2010 10:55 AM                     WABC-TV and Cablevision are holding ground in a contract dispute. ABC-TV wants Cablevision to pay $40 Million Dollars for a retransmission fee agreement on top of $200 Million it pays for programs. This mess has been going on for the last two years, but no one wants to come to terms. So as of 12:01am on Sunday, March 7th. ABC-TV pulled the plug on WABC-TV ch. 7 for some 3 million Cablevision subscribers in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. And this happens just hours before the ABC-TV telecast of the Academy Awards Show tonight. So if you have a new TV, Dish service or a Digital set top box you are ok for the show. Both parties are telling there sides of the story. It's like a he said, she said thing. Cablevision is saying Because of what ABC-TV did you find some of your favorite shows on Hula and other internet sites. Afew months ago Cablevision had a dispute with Food Network, HGTV from Scripps. Scripps pulled the plug on those two channels. There were reinstalled afew days later. Fox also had a problem with Time Warner cable on program fees. Fox wanted more money for it's programs. So is this just the start on higher cable and dish fees someday?  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 03-07-2010 11:08 AM                     I think WABC may be shooting itself in the foot. 3 million fewer subscribers? If I was a business person buying a block of commercial time from that station I would want a really serious discount. Smaller market TV stations in the United States are going to find themselves in the same kind of trouble that is currently affecting so many newspapers across the country. More and more people are going to shift to watching broadcast network TV programming via the Internet. You can already watch most TV series and other original network programming via the Internet. Even a lot of cable networks allow people to see their shows for free via the Internet. As the Internet continues to improve in speed it's going to cause local stations to lose more viewers. That's going to negatively impact commercial ad revenue for many of those local stations, perhaps enough over time that it will cause at least some of those local stations to go out of business. If the local station doesn't have enough viewers it isn't going to get enough ad revenue to stay in business. Pretty simple math.  |  IP: Logged Mitchell Dvoskin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1869 From: West Milford, NJ, USA Registered: Jan 2001 posted 03-07-2010 12:47 PM                     As a Cablevision subscriber, I say good riddance to WABC. Of course that is easy for me to say, as I can receive them free over the air in full 1080i with the flip of a switch, for those few shows that I may want to watch. While both sides have mounted a nasty advertising campaign against each other, ABC/Disney is outright lying. They claim that Cablevision is charging $18/month for their programming. Not true. Cablevision charges between $12 & $13/month (depending upon your location) for basic cable, which includes Cablevision's News12, Public Access, and QVC. The difference is state and local taxes, of which Cablevision does not keep a dime. In addition, you are not really being charged, or at least not charged much, for the local OTA stations, as this price is really just covering the infrastructure costs and is set by the Public Utilities Commission. I see no reason that people who use Cablevision as an antenna should pay extra for free OTA stations. Let's face it, if Cablevision looses, the subscribers are going to be paying for the loss. I see lots of ranting online about how some people are going to switch to Verizon FIOS or DirecTv. Well see how many actually do when they find out both have heafty early termination fees (Cablevison has no ETF), and both are more expensive. FIOS cheapest package is roughly equivalent to Cablevision's family package, as is DirecTv. In addition, with DirecTv, you have to pay an additional charge to receive local channels, and on top of that another additional fee to receive them in HD.  |  IP: Logged Tony Bandiera Jr Film God Posts: 3067 From: Moreland Idaho Registered: Apr 2004 posted 03-07-2010 01:53 PM                     quote: Mitchell Dvoskin In addition, with DirecTv, you have to pay an additional charge to receive local channels, and on top of that another additional fee to receive them in HD. All of which is true. But, remember the old saying, you get what you pay for. In well over ten years of subscribing to DirecTv, I have had no more than ten very momentary service interruptions caused by extreme rainfall which blocks the sat signal. Yet every person I know who has cable service (regardless of providers) experience in excess of 5 outages PER YEAR, some of which last for hours. And cable's image quality, in BOTH standard def and HD, is often inferior to satellite's. If I had the choice of saving some bucks and getting unreliable service, or spending a bit more for a service with better reliability and better image quality I'd rather spend the extra coin.  |  IP: Logged Mitchell Dvoskin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1869 From: West Milford, NJ, USA Registered: Jan 2001 posted 03-07-2010 02:11 PM                     I too had DirecTv for about 10 years, dropping them only because there are trees blocking my reception of their HD satellite. I was extremely happy with their service. Note, however, that for a large part of those 10 years, DirecTv's answer to those wanting local channels was, get an antenna and a switch. It's kind of hypocritical to criticize Cablevision for saying the same thing. Cablevision's reliability does leaves a lot to be desired however, although their picture quality is comparably. Unfortunately, the wall of trees blocking my HD reception are not on my property, so going back to them is not an option.  |  IP: Logged James Westbrook Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1133 From: Lubbock, Texas, Usa Registered: Mar 2006 posted 03-07-2010 02:24 PM                     I heard somewhere that ABC news has closed all of it's news bureaus all across the country and are forcing reporters to work out of the affiliate stations (like WFAA in Dallas) and the reporter has to set up his equipment and what-have-you like the local reporters have to do. Makes it even more odd that they would willingly cut out 3 million subscribers as they obviously are in need of ad revenue. ABC recently sold all of its radio stations and radio satellite networks to a company who filed for bankrupcy just this past year.  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 03-07-2010 05:29 PM                     I remember our off-air TV antenna reception being really really crappy when I lived in Staten Island. I think the Verrazano Bridge did a lot to chop up TV signals from Manhattan. Fort Wadsworth finally got cable TV service which solved that problem.  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-07-2010 05:37 PM                     It's network tv... no one is missing a thing!  |  IP: Logged Bill Gabel Film God Posts: 3873 From: Technicolor / Postworks NY, USA Registered: Jan 2002 posted 03-07-2010 07:46 PM                     ABC-TV and Cablevision have just reached a agreement in principle. And has just returned WABC-TV programing back to the air. Oscar is on the air. Cablevision was offering a free movie credit from On Demand for the lost WABC-TV programs Sunday.  |  IP: Logged Frank Angel Film God Posts: 5305 From: Brooklyn NY USA Registered: Dec 1999 posted 03-09-2010 02:53 AM                        A POX ON BOTH THEIR HOUSES. It alway about the money and it's always they other guys fault. I was watching with a little bit of glee as they kept throwing jibes at each other right on the screen. At first, what ABC did was cut off their broadcast signal but switch to a crawl lambasting Cablevision's owner Jim Dolan's and the Dolan "Dynasty" of "pocketing" 8 billion last year. Why Cablevision techs were asleep at the switch to let ABC transmit this statement, which of course blamed Cablevision for everything, naturally. When Cablevision finally realize what was going on they threw up their own propaganda. They were off all day long so I just assumed, yah, no Oscars tonight. I checked again a few minutes after 8 and still no ABC so I said the heck with it, they are actually going to black out the Oscars. What A-holes are running the Rodent House. I was in the middle of a book anyway so when it was still off the air, I just shut the set off. JoAnne was doing something on the computer, so neither of us never bothered to check again during the night. And you know what....no big loss. I am really not interested in the Oscars as a show in the first place -- I usually just put the TV on and have it in the background while I go about doing other things. Why waste 4 hours of people gushing over each other when you can get that information in 5 minutes the next morning? Hollywood is filled with the biggist bunch of mutual masturbaters on the planet. They're forever congratulating each other with awards shows after awards shows. How bout giving people who REALLY help people some awards, like the one I would give to the Best Mechanic Who Was Able To Stop The Noise In My Engine For Under $200. How bout an award for HIM?!  |  IP: Logged Joe Elliott Master Film Handler Posts: 497 From: Port Orange, Fl USA Registered: Oct 2006 posted 03-09-2010 04:55 PM                     The problem is that the cable company cannot make money off the local channels. They are bound by law to only mark them up a minimal amount (I forget what the percentage is) which really only covers the line maintenance. So when a local channel wants to raise their rates, it directly effects the cable customer, and helps the cable company (because of the percentage). The cable company knows however, that the customers get tired of the repeated raising of rates. Rate hikes that are by the most part caused by the local channels. The local channels are usually owned by a larger entity, like Disney, General Electric (also ownes NBC, History channel etc.), Viacom, etc. And they will use the additional channels that they own to leverage a higher price on the locals. The law states that the cable company MUST carry the local channels or pay a hefty fine. There is no sort of price controls that keeps the local channels from strong arming the cable company into accepting what ever price they demand. Yes I worked for 2 different cable companies for a total of 6 years. I had been very interested in film buying when with K.C. Area drive-ins, and found out what I could about the channel negotiations while with the CC. I found the channel negotiations were very one sided towards the companies that owned the locals, and were very vicious and cutthroat. From the cable company side it was more like trying to hold the wolves at bay. Film buying was much more cordial (comparatively), although I never have gotten into film buying.  |  IP: Logged Sean McKinnon Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1712 From: Peabody Massachusetts Registered: Sep 2000 posted 03-12-2010 01:04 PM                        You know I am sick of the cable companies. We went through this with Time Warner and Fox. I think it is only right that we pay Time Warner to watch Fox on thier system so they should pay Fox for re-transmitting it. IMO it would be like a theatre getting to show a new release and keeping all of the Box Office on it. These cable companies had been a monopoly for so long that they are just entrenched in the idea that "we" need "them" more than "they" need "us" In a lot of areas thier service is lousy. They advertise Fiber Optics when most of thier transmission lines are still coax. I cannot watch a one hour show without getting the digital stutter at least ten times. Unfortunately the building my condo is in is not yet wired for FIOS. I know a couple people who recently switched and they rave about thier FIOS service. I think it is telling that the only thing cable can come up with that you lose when switching is thier local cable news channel. They don't say you lose picture quality, they dont say you pay more, they don't day FIOS has less features they say that you won't get thier local cable news channel. Well guess what? Fios has thier own (FIOS ONE). I had a recent situation where I was going to be late on my cable bill. I called and explained to them that we had a major storm with a state of emergency and no power, heat, or cable for six days and that I had to use my cable bill money to pay for hotel rooms to keep my family warm. All I was aking for was an extra 24 hours or less. The cable was set to be turned off Sunday and I get my direct deposit Monday Morning. Now, I understand that it is my fault for procrastinating on paying my bills. I know I should pay the bill every month instead of every two months. But under normal circumstances I would not have called and asked for an extension. So anyways I call and explain the situation and this is what transpires... CustServRep:Can I have your account number? Me:I am at work so I dont have it in front of me but here is my personal info... CustServRep:Well I need you last payment amount Me:I don't have that as I am at work but I gave you all my other info CustServRep:Well then I cant help you Me: hold on I will look it up online in my bank account hold on this may take a little bit Me: Actually can you give me the date of the payment so I can find it faster? CustServRep:no me: ok well hang on this may take alittle while ... me:ok I got it it's xxxx CustServRep:What was the month and year of the payment me:xxxxx CustServRep: Ok well now I can tell you that your cable will be shut off sunday morning and theres nothing anyone can do about it it's automatic. me: well I find it hard to beleive that no one can do anything about it, I mean I didnt even have cable for six days ao shouldnt I get some kind of credit for that? CustServRep: no theres nothing we can do unless you pay X amount of money Me: I am going to pay the whole balance on Monday when I get paid but until then I am broke because of these extraordinary circumstances CustServRep: well im sorry after you make your payment on monday we can restore yuour service. me: Well can I talk to someone else? Is there a supervisor or another number I can call? CustServRep:No there is no other number me: Well how about a supervisor CustServRep: (annoyed Huff) Well there just gonna tell you tha same thing me: Okay well I would like to hear it from them... CustServRep: allright well there just gonna tell you the same thing I did please hold newCustServRep:This is so and so how can I help you... me: Explains everything again newCustServRep: Well we can put a note in your file this one time so that when it gets turned off you can call and we will turn it back on we have no control over it getting shut off but with this note in your file they will turn it back on as soon as you call me: thank you very much newCustServRep: remember this is a one time only thing and we won't do it again Whats my point in relaying this story? It's just that they treat you like you are lucky to have thier service. Yeah, it's my fault for not paying the bill every month but I just got in a bad habit of paying 300 every two months instead of 150 each month. People in the area who have FIOS told me that not only did they get credit for not being able to use thier service for so many days but they also extended everyones billing due dates because of the emergency situation.  |  IP: Logged Bill Gabel Film God Posts: 3873 From: Technicolor / Postworks NY, USA Registered: Jan 2002 posted 10-15-2010 01:57 PM                     Here we go again this time it's Fox and Cablevision. It's been another battle of ads between Fox saying this and Cablevision saying that. Fox wants more money for programs. Well midnight is coming soon, we will see who pulls the plug.  |  IP: Logged Frank Angel Film God Posts: 5305 From: Brooklyn NY USA Registered: Dec 1999 posted 10-15-2010 11:07 PM                        Welp, it is Fox who pulled the plug. Black screen. So Cablevision isn't even putting up a text card explaining why that channel is dark? Let's see how long it takes before one of them blinks and we get a singnal back. You would think knowing this was brewing that they would have arranged some sort of fill programming that was cheap to buy or even free -- I am sure some of the public access shows would jump at the chance of being carried over a prime channel instead of off somewhere in public access hell. BCAT our Brooklyn station has some really interesting lineup of decent programming. PS -- took em 5 minutes to put up their side of the story (12:05am). They are publicly asking News Corp to go to binding arbitration. What I forgot was that MY9 is also owned by FOX, a variance the FCC gave News Corp. basically pissing on their own rule (used to be hard and fast) of not allowing one company to won two outlets in the same market...wonder how many hookers (and sweet boiz) News Corp had to ply the FCC commissioners to get THAT neat monopolistic unprecidented variance. Total crap.  |  IP: Logged Martin McCaffery Film God Posts: 2481 From: Montgomery, AL Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-16-2010 10:09 AM                        Compared to Rupert Murdoch essentially buying himself US citizenship so he would be allowed to own US media outlets, special deals with the FCC must have been an afterthought.  |  IP: Logged

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