Time Warner, Viacom standoff

[KyCardinalFan]

I'm on the verge of losing about 8-10 channels at the stroke of midnight. Many are ones that we watch fairly regularly - Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, Noggin, TV Land, Spike and includes channels CMT, MTV and VH1 which we may watch sometimes.

These channels have had notices scrolling across the screen to call TWC and demand these channels, which has concerned our oldest. She's worried about losing Nickelodeon.

A fight over millions of dollars and we, the consumers, get screwed once again. But, of course, they're each acting in our interests even though I just read an article that they haven't negotiated in weeks.

I hope this plays out quickly. Otherwise I'll be soliciting satellite information in Social soon.

[Leroy]

So did this happen?

[KyCardinalFan]

Nope.

I was pleasantly surprised to see all the channels still on this morning.

I heard this afternoon that they had an agreement, but I don't exactly know when or the terms. Now I guess I'll have to wait and see if TWC raises prices.

But for now, I am happy. (And my girls are, too.)

[KyCardinalFan]

Now I see Viacom's gripe. A section from an LA Times article:

"Viacom's cable networks are among the most popular on cable television," Michael Nathanson of Bernstein Research wrote in a research report Wednesday. He said about 25% of all cable viewers tuned in to Viacom channels throughout the day.

Nathanson said that the affiliate fees paid to Viacom by cable operators, including Time Warner, were "underpriced" when compared with those paid for other channels.

According to research firm SNL Kagan, Viacom's MTV receives about 32 cents per subscriber per month from cable operators, while Nickelodeon receives an average of 45 cents a month. Operators pay 86 cents a month per subscriber for the Disney Channel, which commands a higher fee because it runs commercial-free.

In contrast, sports channel ESPN receives an average of nearly $4 per subscriber a month. Viacom said it was seeking a modest increase of about 23 cents a month per subscriber.

That adds up to a rate hike of about 12% for the package of Viacom cable channels. Time Warner estimated that amount would increase its payments by $39 million a year.

"We are not asking for unreasonable increases," Dauman said before the post-midnight breakthrough was reached. "All of our networks put together cost less than the regional sports networks that they provide."

Time Warner pays Viacom about $300 million a year for its programming, Nathanson estimated in his report. He said Viacom payments represented 7.9% of Time Warner Cable's video programming costs.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-v ... 5999.story

[obucard]

I'm on the verge of losing about 8-10 channels at the stroke of midnight. Many are ones that we watch fairly regularly - Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, Noggin, TV Land, Spike and includes channels CMT, MTV and VH1 which we may watch sometimes.

These channels have had notices scrolling across the screen to call TWC and demand these channels, which has concerned our oldest. She's worried about losing Nickelodeon.

A fight over millions of dollars and we, the consumers, get screwed once again. But, of course, they're each acting in our interests even though I just read an article that they haven't negotiated in weeks.

I hope this plays out quickly. Otherwise I'll be soliciting satellite information in Social soon.