December 31st, 2008 
joel FINAL UPDATE: WSJ.com is reporting this morning that an “agreement in principle” was reached between Time Warner Cable and Viacom shortly after midnight. No details have been disclosed.
UPDATED: Dueling press statements: Time Warner Cable | Viacom
Viacom is running this ad in major markets to generate support for their side:
Time Warner Cable customers turning on MTV, Comedy Central, or Nickelodeon this morning will likely see a scroll at the bottom of their screen warning that they could lose the channel by midnight tonight.
At the core of this alarming news is an ongoing carriage contract dispute between the cable operator and Viacom, and 19 cable channels are at risk for Erie viewers. According to the Huffington Post this morning, “Media giant Viacom Inc. said its Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central and 16 other channels will go dark on Time Warner Cable Inc. at 12:01 a.m. Thursday if a new carriage fee deal is not agreed upon by then. The impasse over carriage fee hikes would mean ‘SpongeBob’ and other shows like ‘The Daily Show’ will be cut off to 13 million subscribers.”
Meanwhile negotiations reportedly continue at the most senior executive level.
In the balance are the following channels: Comedy Central, CMT: Pure Country, Logo, Palladia, MTV, MTV 2, MTV Hits, MTV Jams, MTV Tr3s, Nickelodeon, Noggin, Nick 2, Nicktoons, Spike, The N, TV Land, VH1, VH1 Classic, and VH1 Soul.
Posted in 
Tags: 
Loading ...
Does anyone know why ESPN News is showing all black on time warner digital?
How does a TV watcher, an average Dave, like me write to Corporate Suits with an intelligent voice? It is the intelligent voice, I find, that is most often heard and responded to.
Well my wife will breath a sigh of relief that the Food Network is not one of them.
It’s a sad fact, but it is inevitable. If the corporate suits don’t get more money, our television viewing habits become a thing of the past.
We, as consumers, don’t OWN, the tv stations that we watch, so we have no say on what we are given. HD is BS if we have no input on the CONTENT, or lack thereof. The guys with the money are in control, and I believe that is the opinion shared by a great many folks in the audience. Indifference and the defeated attitude have lost many a battle.
Now, here we are, on the horizon of the digital age with NO voice. How do we get heard?
I’m all for a Civil Disobedience Event at Time Warner headquarters… an old fashion “BE-IN”. We could each carry old fashioned analog portable TVs. Of course, nothing would be on the screen of each TV…. perfect representation…. a bunch of people watching blank televsion screens. We say to the Corporate Suits… You take away our content, so we watch NOTHING.
Dano,
Just checked ESPNews on TWC-City and it is working fine.
Thanks…I’m in the county and will check again. TW service is coming this afternoon to see why my digital channels keep freezing up every 5-10 minutes for periods of 15 seconds. Has been happening for the last 8 months, have changed the dvr’s, and nothing seems to work. Argghhh!
Joel,
You never have to worry about this stuff if you dont have cable. Bring on the converter box!!