TV for Tots » cable dispute http://www.tvfortots.com A place for parents to learn about their preschool children's favorite television shows with news from Playhouse Disney, Noggin, Nick Jr., and PBS Kids. Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:41:42 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Tears averted: Time Warner and Viacom reach deal http://www.tvfortots.com/2009/01/tears-averted-time-warner-and-viacom-reach-deal/ http://www.tvfortots.com/2009/01/tears-averted-time-warner-and-viacom-reach-deal/#comments Thu, 01 Jan 2009 13:37:08 +0000 bill http://www.tvfortots.com/?p=309 It was a pretty ugly display yesterday as Time Warner and Viacom spent the bulk of New Year’s Eve portraying each other as greedy. But the two sides reached a deal in principle that will allow Dora, Wubbzy, and others to stay on the air for Time Warner Cable customers.

]]> http://www.tvfortots.com/2009/01/tears-averted-time-warner-and-viacom-reach-deal/feed/ 4 Time Warner customers to lose Nickelodeon and Noggin? http://www.tvfortots.com/2008/12/time-warner-customers-to-lose-nickelodeon-and-noggin/ http://www.tvfortots.com/2008/12/time-warner-customers-to-lose-nickelodeon-and-noggin/#comments Wed, 31 Dec 2008 15:35:50 +0000 bill http://www.tvfortots.com/2008/12/time-warner-customers-to-lose-nickelodeon-and-noggin/
Ad taken out by Viacom regarding Time Warner dispute

Ad taken out by Viacom regarding Time Warner dispute

A showdown between Time Warner Cable and Viacom media (the parent company of Nickelodoen, Noggin, and a host of other channels including MTV and Comedy Central) could leave 13 million preschoolers without their daily fix Dora the Explorer. Unless an agreement is reached by midnight tonight, those channels will cease to exist for Time Warner customers.

This appears to be a classic struggle between the provider, who wants more money, and the cable company, who wants to retain more money. The provider side says it will only cost subscribers pennies a month ($0.23 per subscriber per month), the cable company says that they are looking out for the best interests of their subscribers by holding costs down (it’s a 22 to 36% increase).

Typically it’s the innocent bystanders, the people who just want to watch TV, that lose out in these deals. Really though, I can’t see how a cable provider cannot have the Viacom suite in their offering because the channels are such strong brands and really represent what cable TV is from a programming standpoint.

There has been a crawl on Noggin today urging customers to contact Time Warner. The number they are providing is: 1-800-762-3786. Bright House Network customers are also effected and Bright House can be contacted at 1-866-309-3279.

UPDATE 12:28 ET: In fairness, here is the number for Viacom 212-258-6000. Also, Time Warner’s CEO has released a statement.

Time Warner Cable Loses Viacom: MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central To Go Dark

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