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/ 03.08.2010 3:00PM
WABC and Cablevision Bury the Hatchet Last Minute
NEW YORK: Cablevision and Disney-owned WABC-TV in New York
came to temporary carriage terms over the weekend just in time to restore the
signal for the Oscars telecast. The Web was rife with reports on Sunday that
Disney had pulled the station off of Cablevision systems in an ongoing dispute
over retransmission terms. Cablevision’s never paid for the signal; Disney and
WABC are angling for monthly subscriber fees to the tune of $40 million.
Disney threatened last week to pull the plug Saturday night, and indeed did so
when the appointed hour came around. Around 3 million homes in New York,
Connecticut and New Jersey were affected, prompting Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.)
to add his two cents. He wrote a letter urging FCC chief Julius Genachowski to
prevent WABC from pulling its signal while negotiations continued.
WABC was restored to Cablevision systems late Sunday afternoon after both
agreed to binding arbitration.
“We’ve made significant progress, and have reached an agreement in principle
that recognizes the fair value of ABC7, with deal points that we expect to
finalize with Cablevision,” said Rebecca Campbell, president and general
manager of WABC-TV. “Given this movement, we’re pleased to announce that ABC7
will return to Cablevision households while we work to complete our
negotiations.”
-- Deborah D. McAdams
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Thursday 12:00AM
Wireless TV Households on the Rise
“Nearly a million more homes are subscribing to broadband while skipping a traditional pay TV subscription." ~ Nielsen