The ads are frequent. No NFL, no Homeland, no US Open Tennis, no this, no that when CBS and its related networks like Showtime are dropped from Time Warner Cable markets. The drop date was last night but as last minute negotiations continue, the networks have remained on the air as a sign of good faith negotiation. This will not be the first time that a major broadcaster has been dropped from a cable operator. "The blackout threatened to be the first of a top broadcaster by a major
pay-TV carrier in New York, the nation’s largest TV market, since Cablevision Systems Corp. (CVC) shut down Fox for two weeks in 2010."
Will a deal be consummated and a drop averted or will TWC customers face a period of time without CBS? What I can assure you is that a deal will be reached. It is a symbiotic relationship between these two parties. Each needs the other to maintain a customer base. CBS needs TWC for ratings and ad revenue; losing the NY market, not to mention Los Angeles and Dallas, would be a major blow. And TWC needs CBS especially with football and tennis scheduled to start and a market that might just embrace its satellite competitors, DirecTv and Dish, as well as upstart Aereo. And once the dust has settled and rate increases have been increased, the consumer will find their bills have gone up too. And that is the circle of life.
