Shoutbox

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UPDATE (keep refreshing for breaking news): What an awful way to ring in 2009. It turns out that Viacom claims it has been trying to negotiate a "fair" renewal of its prized cable channels for months and months, but reputedly Time Warner Cable has been unresponsive and "unreasonable" so talks have stalled. The nation's 2nd largest cable system operator, in turn, claims Viacom is asking for "exorbitant" increases in carriage fees which would have to be passed along to the customer. So now this fight between the two Big Media giants will hurt cable viewers. At 12:01 AM on January 1st, just after the ball drops in Time Square, Time Warner Cable's 13.3 million subscribers will lose 19 Viacom 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; Vh1 Soul. The howling starts here, especially by parents home for the holidays with children who won't have access to their favorite shows like SpongeBob Squarepants and Dora The Explorer, and tweens/teens wanting to see new episodes of those new unreality Reality TV series The City and Bromance, and twentysomethings and older who get their news from The Daily Show With Jon Stewart or The Colbert Report.

This affects all U.S. Time Warner cable subscribers including those in New York and Los Angeles. Alex Dudley, a vice president at Time Warner Cable, the nation's second-largest cable operator, is telling reporters that the dispute with Viacom "is that they have asked for an exorbitant increase in their carriage fees and their network ratings are sagging."  However, Nickelodeon is 2008’s No. 1 basic cable network, drawing the largest audience in its history. MTV, on the other hand, has seen ratings slide. Time Warner Cable claims it's "trying to hold the line on fees for our customer" -- but it's really worried that if Viacom gets its raises, then every cable programmer will want them. TWC claims Viacom has asked for fee increases of between 22% and 36% per channel, but Sumner Redstone's company maintains the increases would cost less than $.25 a month for the package of channels per subscriber who spend a fifth of total TV time watching Viacom shows but its fees make up less than 2.5% of the Time Warner cable bill. (Sports channels are paid the biggest cable premium). But Time Warner Cable also is complaining that Viacom's popular shows are rerun on Web sites where Viacom collects advertising revenue that it does not share with Time Warner. On the other hand, Viacom has staked much of its revenue-growth prospects on squeezing higher carriage rates out of its cable and satellite affiliates despite an ad slowdown and weaker ratings.

Such negotiation battles between cable networks and cable system operators have happened before and lasted merely hours. In 2004, for example, Viacom's cable channels disappeared from EchoStar's Dish Network for two days while both sides fought over the terms of a new contract. And Time Warner blocked ABC from its cable systems in New York during a breakdown in contract negotiations with parent company Disney. So this one will either end fast or go on forever. It probably will depend on how many subscribers start flooding Time Warner Cable with obscene calls or, worse, switch to satellite. Viacom has already started a hardball campaign to "Call Time Warner Cable and say 'NO' " starring The Hills and South Park.

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http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/happy-new-y...ntral-off-the-air/

This affects all people in the usa. I'm not in America atm however, i really think they should reconsider this. It's just ridiculous considering it's only for more cash.

* Quantum looks at the stocks tomorrow.. 

Everybody seems to be complaining to 1-800-762-3786 and the lines are flooded

Thats why you should get a DISH or DirecTV

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This affects all people in the usa

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Nope. only those on Time Warner cable.  They aren't the only cable company, you know.

I meant all people in the usa with there cable..

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Originally posted by Quantum
It's just ridiculous considering it's only for more cash.

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lolol. lolol. its just money!!!!!!

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Originally posted by Quantum
I meant all people in the usa with there cable..

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i think you meant their

TV is a dead medium anyway.

Since Voldemort bumped the thread (for no good reason ), here's an update:

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Time Warner Cable and Viacom reach deal

Jan 1, 2009

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Millions of Time Warner Cable customers won't lose their access to MTV and 18 other channels after the cable giant reached an agreement early Thursday with media conglomerate Viacom Inc.

The two sides, citing disagreement over fee hikes, had threatened a damaging blackout at a minute past midnight Thursday that would have cut off shows such as "SpongeBob SquarePants" and "The Colbert Report" to about 15.7 million subscribers.

"We are pleased that our customers will continue to be able to watch the programming they enjoy on MTV Networks," said Glenn Britt, president and CEO of Time Warner Cable Inc. "We are sorry they had to endure a day of public disagreement as we worked through this negotiation."

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Details must still be finalized over the next few days, the companies said.

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Originally posted by WDZ
Since Voldemort bumped the thread (for no good reason ), here's an update:

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It was a spelling mistake! Not bumping it would've been a disaster!


AMIRITE?

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Originally posted by Thor

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Originally posted by WDZ
Since Voldemort bumped the thread (for no good reason ), here's an update:

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It was a spelling mistake! Not bumping it would've been a disaster!


AMIRITE?

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Zat iz correckt!

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Originally posted by djdannyp

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Oh the irony.