While the Time Warner Cable and CBS saga goes on past 2 weeks, both sides have agreed to an exception to their blackout in New York City. Political elections outweigh US Open Tennis and NFL Football it seems as three different debates will be allowed to air from CBS onto the TWC system. "The comptroller debate will air Thursday, August 22, from 7 to 8 p.m.
The GOP mayoral debate will air at 7 p.m. on August 28 and the
Democratic runoff debate at 7 p.m. on Sept. 23."
Whether the two sides have gotten closer to resolving the renewal has yet to be seen. To appease viewers, TWC is airing Tennis Channel coverage of the US Open and opening up premium access to some Starz programming. Of course, consumers would also love to see a decrease in their bills as a sign of passing the savings to the customer. How long this blackout remains in effect could depend ultimately on the start of the Fall TV season. Still, CBS must be losing significant revenue from political advertising being pulled off their schedule as a result of not being watchable. With the first regular season NFL football game and premieres, the amount of losses can only increasing. What that breakeven is to those losses to the increase in license fee revenue is one the accountants at CBS are likely analyzing on a near constant basis.
