News 4 & Time Warner, Roasting on an Open Fire	by Jay Joseph

In case you don’t follow the news, or you’ve been living under a rock for the last few months, let me bring you up to speed on some crucial current events. Bush will probably go down as one of the worst presidents in history; the candidates who want to replace him never talk about politics; the economy is on red alert; and finally, Time Warner Cable’s contract to carry the signals of WIVB and WNLO Buffalo has officially expired. All of the sudden that rock doesn’t sound so bad.

Now some people would say that last bit of news shouldn’t fall under “crucial current events” or they already know about all this, but I beg to differ. Just this past weekend, hundreds upon thousands of Time Warner Cable customers stood in line to get a free rabbit ear antenna in order to watch the channels they no longer get, most of them Bills fans literally scared out of their body paint about not being able to watch the Buffalo-Arizona game. Time Warner tried to make it up to Buffalo customers by giving these away at company locations in Amherst, Orchard Park, West Seneca, and in the city. Hundreds stood in line at all four locations Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, with Time Warner giving away more than 30,000 rabbit ears. But most importantly, this story received top news coverage this past week on Channel 4 News, keeping us connected! It all began at the stroke of midnight on October 2, 2008; Time Warner Cable, right here in the City of Light, had to drop WIVB channel 4 and WNLO CW 23 by federal law. The short-term agreement to carry those cable stations expired that day, with currently no negotiations for a new contract a whole week later. This however, could change any time now, and for everyone’s sake, the sooner the better.

So what does this all mean for you the reader? Well, since no new contract has been reached thus far, Time Warner Cable customers no longer have channel 4 (CBS) or WNLO (CW). That means, without a local cable antenna, you will miss Buffalo Bills games, The Price is Right, Oprah, and News 4 Buffalo, “our region’s most watched television station.” Don’t forget about The AFC divisional playoff games, if an agreement isn’t made by January 10 and 11 of 2009, as well as the AFC championship game on January 18, 2009.

LIN TV, which is the parent company of both channel networks, claims it has attempted to negotiate a new long-term agreement to keep the stations on, however, Time Warner has apparently not responded to their proposals. Time Warner insists they have been actively negotiating with LIN TV, and that the management teams at WIVB and WNLO are using their stations to spread misleading information. Sounds to me like typical dirty politics. Each side has a different story and only they know the truth.

In an open letter to customers on Timewarnercable.com, Terence Rafferty, president of the Western New York division, states that Time Warner has “no intention of dropping WIVB and WNLO” and that “WIVB and WNLO are seeking millions of dollars for programming that is available for free with an antenna.” (Which is true.) Finally, he wrote, “Any decision to pull WIVB and WNLO from our lineup will be made by LIN TV and WIVB and WNLO, not Time Warner Cable.”

If you head on over to WNLO.com, you’ll get a completely different tale. According to a statement from Christopher A. Musial, the president and general manager of WIVB-TV and WNLO-TV, “The fair compensation we are asking for as part of our contract negotiation with Time Warner amounts to less than a penny a day per station/per subscriber. Cable companies often say that local broadcasters have ‘unreasonable demands’ when it comes to carriage agreements. We do not believe that a penny a day per station/per subscriber is an unreasonable demand for our award-winning news, sports and entertainment programming. It is actually much less than what cable companies compensate many of its cable networks, none of which have the viewing of your local CBS and CW stations.” Mr. Musial even went to extraordinary lengths by appearing on News 4 to explain LIN TV’s side of the story.

You may be asking yourself, why can’t Buffalo get a decent cable provider? Both these statements contradict each other, so we don’t really know who the bad guy is here. Time Warner makes it sound like LIN TV is just trying to make more money off you the customer, but would that really shock anyone? LIN wants to be compensated by Time Warner for allowing it to carry stations that are available over the air for free and now they seem to be throwing a hissy fit because things aren’t going their way. There’s a toll free number for Channel 4 fans to call about their cable and television choices, and the WNLO website features numerous ads for companies such as DirecTV, Verizon, DISH Network, and Comcast, the last of which is this writer’s favorite pick (based only on its resemblance to Sega Dreamcast.) Is WNLO persuading its viewers and Time Warner customers to switch to other companies? Is News 4 scared of losing their crown?

This isn’t the first time Time Warner Cable hit sports fans where it hurts. On July 31, 2006, Time Warner Cable and Comcast purchased most all of Adelphia’s assets for over $15 billion. In case you don’t remember Adelphia, it was once the cable monopoly here in Buffalo, until its already-rich owners wanted to be even richer...illegally. A story which has become all too familiar in this day and age.

Time Warner Cable took on millions of Adelphia’s subscribers, many of whom were here in Buffalo. Then, in September 2006, Time Warner removed the NFL Network from its cable broadcasting systems, leaving many football fans under a blanket during a blackout. The NFL’s 24-hour, nonstop football network was a hugely popular station, and not a lot of sports fans were happy.

Now I’m not a businessman, but in my opinion the best thing for Time Warner and LIN TV to do is stick together like a stamp on a letter. Both companies don’t seem to realize that neither can win this contest. If Time Warner says no to carrying WIVB and WNLO, they will lose thousands of customers. Buffalo is a city of pride and one thing we love are the Bills. If just channel 4 is taken away, sports fans will switch to a different provider before you can say FIOS.

As for LIN TV, they will lose more viewers than they think, possibly knocking the beloved News 4 off the top of the mountain. Many people don’t care about sports, CBS programming, or CW 23, which most cable viewers have never watched once. LIN TV may think most of Time Warner Cable customers will switch just for their two channels, but they’re wrong. They’ve already lost viewers, and saw that Time Warner customers can just hook up an antenna. The bottom line is Time Warner and LIN TV need to agree on something before it’s too late! Both companies are in trouble because both companies will lose in the long run, and this is certainly not the best time to be losing business and money. Of course, this is entirely this writer’s opinion; ultimately it’s up to them to decide what they do, but will that decision be the right one? Only Time Warner will tell.

Jay Joseph
Buffalo

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