ABC You Later, Cablevision!

So, it's happening again, only this time, they went and did it.  They've gone nuclear, and it's the end of the world, at least in TV terms, which means going black, like the end of the movie Fail-Safe, or the series finale of The Sopranos.  

In broadcasting, death means going off the air, and I'm just thankful that I live outside of the blast radius, which is to say, that I am not a Cablevision subscriber, thank you very much.  As the New York Daily News put it in a headline (and you may recall their famous headline of the 70s, FORD TO CITY:  DROP DEAD):

Channel 7 ABC flashes angry message, then goes black for Cablevision customers at midnight

And here's a screen shot with the caption "Cablevision customers saw this message on Channel 7 ABC seconds after midnight, which quickly disappeared":

So, the article starts with a basic rundown of the situation:

ABC has gone dark.

Seconds after midnight, Channel 7 disappeared from the screens of customers right in the middle of a repeat episode of "Lost."

Moments later a white screen appeared with a defiant message from ABC, which pulled the signal over a contract dispute with Cablevision.

"Cablevision has betrayed you again," the message read. "First HGTV and Food Network, now you lost ABC-7. Enough is enough! Go to saveABC7.com to switch your service now."

Then, the screen went black again.

Now, on to the cause, the decision by Disney/ABC to cut off Cablevision:

The Disney Co., which owns the ABC network, cut off service to the city's 3.1 million Cablevision customers after the two sides failed to reach a deal.

ABC officials acted on their threat to pull the channel unless Cablevision agreed to pay a rights fee to offer the top-rated station to its subscribers.

"Cablevision has once again betrayed its subscribers by losing ABC7, the most popular station in the tri-state area," Channel 7 president Rebecca Campbell said in a statement.

But of course it takes two, to tango, or tangle in this way:

Cablevision blamed the stall in negotiations on Disney CEO Bob Iger.

"It is now painfully clear to millions of New York area households that Disney CEO Bob Iger will hold his own ABC viewers hostage in order to extract $40 million in new fees from Cablevision," said Charles Schueler, a Cablevision executive vice president.

But as always, it is the people, the innocent bystanders, who suffer:

The dramatic move left Oscar night fans scrambling to find a place to watch Sunday's show.

"I'm so upset. I think it's ridiculous," Dawn Bader, 41, a receptionist from Dyker Heights said earlier Saturday. "We're paying them for this service. If they drop Channel 7, then give us our money back."

Lisa Robinson, 47, said she's confident she'll be able to watch the Oscars online - but she wouldn't be happy about it.

"I think it's terrible," Robinson, also of Dyker Heights, said.

Victims, one and all, of corporate greed and malfeasance.  What is life without easy access to Hollywood stars congratulating one another and endlessly thanking all of the little people.  O-scarred for life, these people will be!  Oh, woe unto them...  

Oh, okay, I'll stop now.  Neil Postman and Amusing Ourselves to Death aside, the fact that less television is probably good for us is not really the point here.  The problem is that corporations, rather than being the capitalistic monolith that some portray them as, are at war with one another, and not in a naturally competitive sense.  Let's go back to the article:

Pulling Channel 7 from Cablevision subscribers came after two years of fruitless negotiations and a week of public mudslinging that involved both sides blaming the other for the mess.

Cablevision says Disney is asking for an additional $40 million a year in new fees, even though they already pay more than $200 million a year.

Disney disputes this figure, but will not reveal what the company is seeking. They argue that Cablevision charges customers $18 per month for its basic package but doesn't pass any of the profits on to ABC or Disney.

The current contract expired more than two years ago but has been maintained on a month-by-month basis since.

Cablevision viewers are essentially kidnapped in this situation, and held hostage.  While alternatives exist, it's a big deal to switch to a satellite or fiber optic service all of a sudden, and I suspect most of us are no long equipped to receive the free broadcast signal on our TV sets.  But there's always the option of going online to watch, as noted above, and to vent:

Upset fans started a Facebook group called "Cablevision, Enough is ENOUGH" and posted messages feverishly on Twitter to vent their frustrations.

"Someone needs to intervene and stop this nonsense," wrote one Facebook poster.

"Cablevision customers are already paying to have ALL the channels including ABC Channel 7. Where is our money going?"

So, it may not be social media to the rescue, but they certainly have a role to play in all this (and that's not to mention all the blogging going on, er, um, like right here).   By the way, this brings us to the end of the article, which was written by Richard Huff and Christina Boyle, with Rich Shapiro and Ben Chapman, for our credit where credit is due department.


Now, oh no, I just discovered that the New York Post stole my title for this post.   Well, no, they came up with it first, I guess it's an astonishing case of parallel evolution (as they used to say on Star Trek), or a case of great minds think alike, or it's just that obvious of a pun.  

Anyway, their article is written by Tim Perone, Ed Robinson, and Taylor K. Vecsey, and is called "No ABC for Cablevision customers" (the pun comes in the first line of the article, which reads, "ABC ya later").  I'll skip over the basic information that we already covered, and just get to the comments from subscribers left out in the cold:

"I don't know what to say," said Plainview, LI, resident Stu Wolff.


"I can't watch the Oscars, it's the biggest show of the year and I'll have to drive to Queens to watch it at my father's," Wolff, 44, added.

Drive from Nassau to Queens???!!!  Traffic advisory!  Watch out for major delays on the Long Island Expressway, and the Grand Central Parkway, folks!  That quote comes early in the article, and here's how it ends:

Viewers, however, weren't interested in those details, only that they might be missing the Oscars and their favorite shows.


"The consumer is the one getting screwed," said Jim Medler, 43, of Bronxville, NY.

Well said, Mr. Medler, well said!  And dare I say it, this is by no means a matter of meddling in affairs that are none of our business!  There's no business like show business, and in the age of show business, television is everybody's business, including we the people, and the government that is an expression of our popular will.

So, let's turn to the Washington Post, which provides us with a policy angle.  This comes from a blog on their website called Post Tech written by Cecilia Kang, and the post is entitled, ABC goes dark for New York Cablevision subscribers.  By the way, let's clarify the fact that this affects Cablevision subscribers throughout the New York Metropolitan Area, which includes many of our friends in other parts of New Jersey.  

Anyway, let me skip past the summary of the situation, and get to the heart of the matter--what is the government going to do about this? Here's what she says:

The negotiation breakdown was the latest in a series of similar standoffs between broadcasters and paid television providers such as Time Warner Cable's dispute with New Corp.'s Fox last year. The Federal Communications Commission has largely stayed on the sidelines of such negotiations. But some lawmakers and consumer groups have urged greater involvement by the agency to prevent viewers from missing out.


"If negotiations break down to the point of intractability, the FCC should step in and facilitate fair arbitration," said Ben Scott, policy director of public interest group Free Press.

 Hear hear, Ben Scott, hear hear!  If ever there was a job for the FCC, this is!  Anyway, back to  Kang:

Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) said in a statement Sunday morning that he isn't picking sides in the dispute but is frustrated with negotiation breakdowns that trickle down to consumers.


"When pulling a signal becomes the nuclear option in negotiation, it inflicts collateral damage on consumers who pay their bills and have done nothing wrong," Kerry wrote. Last week, he urged the FCC to help the companies reach an agreement. "Someone needs to be speaking up for them in this dispute and those like them."


An FCC spokesperson didn't immediately respond to an e-mail request for comment.

Come on, Federal Communications Commissioners, let's get behind this, if there is any reason for the FCC to exist at all, this is it!  Now is the time for all good men and women to stand up and be counted!  And Senator Kerry, the proper response is, a pox on both your houses!

Anyway, I'll skip past Kang's rundown on the he said/she said arguments between ABC and Cablevision, and get to the end of her post, where she returns to politics:

Lawmakers got into the debate last week with U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) pushing the Federal Communications Commission to step in and stop the standoff. Congressman Joe Barton (R-Texas) warned against the government getting involved in a private negotiation.

Private negotiation?  This has become very much a public matter, one that involves the public airwaves, and the public streets and roads that the actual coaxial cable of cable television are laid upon, underneath, or above.  This is a matter of public concern, Representative Barton!  Get the ideology out of your eyes, and see things for what they are!


President Obama, this goes out to you.  Forget health care, forget jobs and the economy, and forget about Iran going nuclear, Iraq, Afghanistan, et al, this requires your immediate attention, and intervention!


Sorry, I got carried away again.  Okay, is there any conclusion we can draw from all this?  Yes, in all seriousness, it is time to reform the system, as I've said in previous posts, specifically All Foxed Up, or Time(Warn'er) for Cable Neutrality,  Tell Old Pharaoh to Let My Channels Go!, and Ordering TV À La Carte.  As you may recall, this thread started with a conflict between Time Warner Cable and the Fox network, one that didn't quite go nuclear the way that Cablevision and Diseny/ABC have.


To summarize, what we need is cable neutrality, along the lines of net neutrality.  Cable providers should just be carriers, like internet providers and telephone companies.  And viewers should be freed to choose what channels and programs they want and don't want. 

Hey, ABC?  It's as easy as 1, 2, 3!