Viacom vs. Time Warner Cable: Is Hulu to Blame? (Cable Networks DeathWatch™)

Advertising Age today ^ | December 31, 2008 | by Michael Learmonth and Andrew Hampp

[Kevin J waldroup]

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- There's nothing new about fee disputes between TV networks and cable and satellite operators, but now they've got an added wrinkle: Cable operators contending that TV networks should forfeit big fee increases when they put shows online free on their own sites and third-party distributors such as Hulu, Joost and Veoh.

That's one of the central arguments being made by Time Warner Cable executives in their dispute with Viacom, which threatens to remove a group of 18 networks that includes MTV, Comedy Central, Noggin and Nickelodeon from Time Warner's 13.5 million subscribers in big markets such as New York, Los Angeles and Dallas.

Connecting TV to computer As part of the talks, Time Warner Cable execs put together a document outlining which shows Viacom is distributing online and where. If the stalemate continues, Time Warner Cable said it will start instructing subscribers how to connect their TVs to a computer and watch Viacom content online, a strategy it tried during a carriage dispute with LIN TV last fall.

[Kevin J waldroup]

December 19, 2008 4:00 AM PST
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10125962-94.html

SNL Kagan data also indicates that cable penetration of homes passed peaked at 65.5% in 1998. As of yearend 2006, cable subscriptions stood at 65.4 million, or 58.4% of 111.9 million homes passed, according to the data. Due to two recent quarters of declining cable subscriptions, this figure is likely to drop further by the end of 2007, SNL Kagan said.”
http://www.marketingcharts.com/television/snl-kagan-cable-subscription-data-contradicts-fcc-chairman-kevin-martin-2634/

HDTV (High Definition Television)
is here today, and it’s FREE!

See the Public Service Announcement

Don’t be misled…
you don’t have to use a pay service to have “High Definition Television” (HDTV)

http://www.myfreehdtv.org/body.html

According to two recent studies, HDTVs are now in about one-third of all homes, making it increasingly important for pay TV operators to deploy a strong high-definition offering if they wish to retain current customers. And the Consumer Electronics Association predicts that some 27.7 million new HD sets will be sold in 2009.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6620569.html

[Halfmanhalfamazing]

I think it’d be fantastic if the internet could replace cable and satellite as a way to transmit regular/ongoing content/shows.

It’d be really nice if someone could revive Weyrich’s NET TV!!! This could be an easy way to do it.

[Domandred]

Probably about 50 to 75% of my TV watching comes off hulu.com now. The other is Tivo time shifted. (Not counting Netflix rentals)

[BlessedBeGod]

I think it’d be fantastic if the internet could replace cable and satellite as a way to transmit regular/ongoing content/shows.

Not everyone has access to it.

My 82-year-old mother has no interest in getting and learning how to use a PC and the internet.

[PAR35]

I thought the Viacom trash was supposed to be pulled by TWC at midnight last night. I checked, and it was still on after that.

[montag813]

Time Warner should just put Hulu feeds of these shows on the air.

[downwdims]

I’m sure MTV will me missed

[MarkL]

I think it’d be fantastic if the internet could replace cable and satellite as a way to transmit regular/ongoing content/shows.

Unfortunately, the only option I have for high speed Internet service is through a cable provider. I'm in an area without fiber optic, I'm too far from my CO for DSL, the latency introduced by wireless (either p2p or satellite) makes my VPN access for work unreliable, so I'm left with Time Warner cable...

UGH!

Mark

[Halfmanhalfamazing]

So then get dialup.

*ducks*

:-)

In the words of a famous rumsfeld:

“we have to deal with the ISPs we currently have, not what we wished we had”

[MarkL]

So then get dialup.

Believe me, I miss the days when all I needed to get my work done was a voice line, a 300bps (that's BITS per second!) acousticoupler, and my trusty Wyse 60 terminal.

These days, in order to do my work remotely, I use a 3DES IPSEC GRE VPN tunnel, just to establish contact with the access device, and from there, I need to authenticate using an RSA token. Just the security overhead would choke a 56kbs line, let alone any applications.

Mark