September 2, 2013 Special Report: Clyburn Wants ‘Shared Responsibility’ by Companies to Avoid Blackouts, She Says as CBS/TWC One Ends
Acting FCC Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn wants media companies to “accept shared responsibility for putting their audience’s interests above other interests,” she said Monday evening as a weeks-long retransmission consent blackout between CBS and Time Warner Cable was ending. Media companies should “do all they can to avoid these kinds of disputes in the future,” Clyburn said in a written statement less than an hour after CBS and Time Warner Cable each said they reached a new deal. Programming will be restored to subscribers of Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks within 24 hours, said TWC in a news release, while CBS said programming was resuming at 6 p.m. EST, about an hour after the deal was disclosed.
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"For too long” millions of consumers were “deprived” of access to CBS programming, said Clyburn. “I am pleased CBS and Time Warner Cable have resolved their retransmission consent negotiations.” The blackout lasted for about a month, and the FCC had been trying to get the broadcaster and the cable operator to end it (CD Aug 30 p2).
The new deal covers carriage of CBS-owned TV stations on Time Warner Cable systems “across the country,” as well as Showtime Networks, CBS Sports Network and Smithsonian Channel, said CBS: “The agreement includes retransmission consent, as well as Showtime Anytime and VOD, for CBS stations on Time Warner Cable systems in New York (WCBS and WLYW), Los Angeles (KCBS and KCAL) and Dallas (KTVT and KTXA).” Time Warner Cable had negotiated the CBS carriage deal that expired on behalf of Bright House Networks (CD July 22 p7).
Time Warner Cable, which “didn’t get everything we wanted” in the retrans renewal with CBS, was trying to “hold down costs,” said CEO Glenn Britt. “Ultimately we ended up in a much better place than when we started.”
Retrans rules, “woefully out of date, are the primary reason cable bills are rising, and too frequently leave our customers without the programming they love,” said Britt. “We sincerely hope that policymakers heed that call” soon from consumer groups and legislators for Congress and the FCC to reassess the 1992 retrans rules, “to prevent these unfortunate blackouts,” he said.