TELEVISION
Chs. 4, 23 could drop off cable
Time Warner Cable and the owner of local Channels 4 and 23 are blaming each other in a financial dispute that could lead to the stations being dropped from the cable system Oct. 2.
If that happens, Time Warner subscribers will have to find another way to watch most Buffalo Bills games and such popular network programs as “CSI,” “NCIS” and “Two and a Half Men.”
LIN TV, which owns local CBS affiliate WIVB Channel 4 and CW affiliate WNLO Channel 23, and Time Warner can’t even agree on whether they are actually negotiating to settle the so-called retransmission issue.
The issue is money. LIN wants to be compensated by Time Warner for allowing it to carry the stations. A LIN release states that the television group — which has 15 of its stations in Time Warner markets — has reached agreements with every other cable, satellite or telecommunications company to carry its stations. In similar financial disputes, deals often have been made closer to the deadline or an extension of the current deal is granted.
Similarly, a local Time Warner statement noted that the cable system has “successfully reached fair agreements with hundreds of broadcasters and cable networks across the country in recent years and are confident we will with LIN TV, too.”
The issue is being handled by the corporate offices of both companies, not in Western New York, and affects all LIN stations and Time Warner systems.
Chris Musial, the general manager of the stations, said LIN made the announcement that the stations could be off Time Warner in a few weeks because it said the cable company hasn’t negotiated since July and has been unresponsive to attempts to negotiate.
“It would seem to indicate they would pull them off on Oct. 2,” when the current agreement expires, said Musial. “We wanted customers to know this is a real possibility.”
However, Time Warner issued a statement saying it is negotiating in good faith.
The LIN statement added the group “expects” Time Warner to discontinue carrying the stations if a deal isn’t done by Oct. 2.
However, Time Warner’s statement said it hopes “LIN TV will not take its channels away from our customers.”
“We are trying to manage costs for our customers,” added the Time Warner statement. “LIN TV is looking to make more money. We are negotiating in good faith to reach a fair and reasonable deal with broadcasters, as we always have, but we cannot allow our customers to bear the costs of the broadcasters’ challenged business model.”
Even if the doomsday scenario occurs, many viewers still would be able to get the stations and their programs via old-fashioned antennas, satellite television and Verizon’s new FIOS alternative.
