Posted on 07/16/2019 12:59:41 PM PDT by Brilliant
CBS is warning viewers that its stations could be blacked out on AT&T’s DirecTV and Uverse pay-TV services on July 19 and that the network could be pulled from streaming service DirecTV Now because of a dispute over programming fees.
CBS Logo “CBS would like to avoid being dropped, but unless an agreement is reached, our viewers should be prepared for DirecTV and AT&T Uverse TV to remove CBS-owned television stations,” CBS said in a statement Tuesday.
AT&T is currently in a retransmission consent fee dispute with Nexstar that has resulted in about 120 stations being blacked out for nearly two weeks. The two sides are talking...
AT&T said it was "disappointed to see CBS put our customers into the middle of negotiations."
In a statement, AT&T said it is "on the side of customer choice and value and wants to keep the local CBS stations in 14 affected cities in our customers’ lineups. Our goal is always to deliver the content our customers want at a value that also makes sense to them. We continue to fight hard for that here and appreciate our customers’ patience while we work this out with CBS."
(Excerpt) Read more at broadcastingcable.com ...
Is that a threat or a promise?
Name one thing worthwhile on CBS that can’t be found online or viewed elsewhere.
Not seeing anything unfortunate about it.
We’ve lost the other two networks, another will not be a loss.
These sorts of disputes have happened before, and they always get resolved, with minimal disruption to the viewers.
That is, if you consider the loss of CBS programming a major life problem in the first place...................
what’s the bad news?
If they really want to save money they should jettison CNN...
Cable company and local/network channels pull this stunt at contract re-negotiation time.
Each claims that the other is trying to rip them off by failing to negotiate new rates.
Regardless, the end result is an increase in the cable bill.
Soooo what is the problem? CBS Blackout...sounds good to me since I do not bother to watch that network.
When I had DirecTV, they sometimes would take too long to resolve. I am with ATT/DTV now, so I think your scenario will pan out. However, I don't watch anything on CBS except some golf tournaments on the weekend.
We cut the cable last year and hooked up an OTA antenna. We can watch CBS if we want to but we rarely watch it.
BTW, love streaming. Watched TV over cable the other day and what was most striking were the flood of advertisements. We were staying in a hotel that offered cable TV. Streaming is so much better and a lot cheaper to boot.
Heck, I can’t even spell AT&T...so I would never write them a check.
All of this is getting out of hand. HBO is gone forever from DISH after threats and rate wars did not work out. With football season around the corner, the networks that carry the NFL and NCAA are going to try to flex their muscle.
It looks to me that the traditional Network programming and Cable/Satellite content provider model is breaking apart. For those with available bandwidth (in cities), there may be more choices via some a la carte arrangement. But those in rural areas may be going back to the future with 2 channels of B&W and sign on at 0800 and sign off at 2300.
More competition should translate into more product at a cheaper price, but with the government in the mix, it may have the opposite effect.
Who cares ?
With most folks having cut the cord, this doesn’t have much impact any longer.
Or those in rural areas could actually, y’know, watch streaming/online like the rest of us.
The cable and satellite networks didn’t want to give us a la carte options, now they’re going to be forced by market forces (customers leaving) to either give us a la carte or more likely just watch their TV customers leave for streaming - HBO for example is smart enough to realize that people will pay them directly for their content so they offer paid streaming online. Through smart TVs or modern set top boxes, you don’t have to sit at your computer or tablet to watch them but can camp in your living room and watch on your existing TV.
In the end, all these companies that won’t offer a la carte will have for their customer base is elderly tech-stupid or tech-hating people.
I do think that today with the ultimate transition to ip based delivery these current negotiate are more about who gets the content. at&t Com cast Disney etc.
Every major party is seeking content. Local channels that are offered free with satellite providers are important.
I don’t even remember the last time I watched a local channel, maybe except for weather updates.
Everyone call AT&T to tell them how much better you like the service since they removed CBS.
Suggest a YouTube or ViVo star as better entertainment.
The nastiest were the Cablevision disputes with various program providers. It wasn’t until it was bought by Altice Europe that those disputes stopped.
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