Relax. Breathe. We’re Committed to Keeping Disney, ABC, ESPN On the Air

Aug 27 2010

Relax. Breathe. We’re Committed to Keeping Disney, ABC, ESPN On the Air

As you may have heard, Time Warner Cable is currently negotiating new contracts with Disney. Disney owns the Disney cable channels (naturally), as well as ABC and ESPN. We’ve both been working hard to reach an agreement.

This I can personally vouch for. They’re doing the negotiations right down the hall from my office and I run into those guys in the hallway, in the bathroom, at the coffee machine — and they don’t look like they’re having any more fun than our people.

You may have seen any number of ads, tweets, blog posts, or other forms of media suggesting that Disney intends to black out all of its channels on September 1st. You may have even been told that if you switch to another service provider, you won’t experience an interruption in service.

However, Disney has already yanked its programming from Cablevision and the DISH network this year. If they’ve done it with those two and they’re threatening to do it to us, there’s a definite pattern emerging. Switching providers isn’t going to get rid of a problem with Disney when Disney is the problem.

We are committed to keeping your shows on the air whether you’re into sports, Disney cartoons or Dancing With the Stars. We promise that we we’re working hard to stop Disney from going dark — please let Disney know you’d like the same promise from them.

You can learn more about this at our Roll Over or Get Tough site.

Categories: Fact-Checking, Retransmission Consent, Roll Over or Get Tough

64 Comments »

64 Responses to “Relax. Breathe. We’re Committed to Keeping Disney, ABC, ESPN On the Air”

Jack
Aug 27, 2010
at 4:05 pm

Thanks Jeff for the Disney/ABC.ESPN article,

Is there some sort of direct e-mail that can go to the higher ups at Disney to let them know how we TWC subs feel about this issue?

Jack
Mike
Aug 27, 2010
at 9:21 pm

O my god Disney is going to lose money and be Seud if they do it to cable
Mike
Aug 27, 2010
at 9:26 pm

Disney can’t do this they better come with a deal with cable same with. Espn and the other channel thT I can’t seem to remember that could leave it’s not cool go cable
Diane
Aug 28, 2010
at 6:07 am

What ever happened to free access? Society has decided in the last 50 years or so of broadcasting that we need everything NOW. Which means no commercials, which is the way the “regular” networks would make their money, enough to broadcast what the viewers wanted. The price for us, a bit of time. I think there should be an allotted amount of time during commercial breaks so that it’s not over- bearing and then not have to pay an exorbatant amount of money per month just to view these channels and the cable channels, etc. Disney is trying to make money at both ends, through the consumer(TWC etc.) and the advertisers. Maybe we should go back to letting the advertisers pay the price monetarily, and we pay with a bit of our time instead of money? The big companies get bigger, and the consumer pays for it, without much difference in the product. I say let DISNEY EAT DIRT for a while. Let them NOT be seen on any broadcasting venues at all, and do the same with any other big companies trying to make a profit from both ends. Nature doesn’t work that way, so why should we? I like Disney shows just as much as anyone else, but they are not the only cat’s meow. I’m sure they’re waiting to just own their own broadcasting venue, so they don’t have to deal with Dish, TWC, etc.. If they supposedly stand for moral and family issues, why are they basically hurting the very people they are supposed to be “helping”? The ALMIGHTY DOLLAR!..They’re no better than any other network, disguised by the shows they have to offer. I say let the kids spend a bit more time outside, find other shows to watch, and hopefully our monthly cable, dish network bill will go down. It is possible! lol..Anyway, those are my thoughts, I don’t think they are too over the top, but that’s what I have to say. Goodluck to all the people who need everything now, in a day, a month, etc..Time will tell I guess. Take care…
Gordon McKennerney
Aug 28, 2010
at 8:02 am

YOU are the bad guys. It’s amazing that you try to twist this into a situation in which you are the victim! Does anyone believe you? For YEARS the cable company has been known as the price gouging, monopolizing monster that charges whatever they wish for TV. Now you’re being asked to pay your share for the channels that you merely rebroadcast(!) Remember a few years back when your greed got so out of control that congress had to intervene? Give me a break and PAY YOUR BILLS
Gordon McKennerney
Aug 28, 2010
at 8:03 am

I DARE you to post the above….Of course you won’t. You’re all disgusting.
Jeff Simmermon
Aug 28, 2010
at 9:11 am

Called your bluff, Gordon. Now what?
Jim C..
Aug 28, 2010
at 9:43 am

Why is Time Warner forever whining to customers about it’s suppliers (Disney, ESPN, Fox, etc.)?? EVERY business has to deal with suppliers and their price increases. You’ve been tell your customers that unless WE complain to Disney, ESPN, etc. you will have to pull the programming. That’s bunk. There’s another alternative. EAT THE COST TIME WARNER.

Of course, you are a monopoly in our area. And because you are a monopoly, cutting into your profits is the last thing you’re going to do. But every other company which doesn’t enjoy monopoly status has to consider reducing profits to keep customers satisfied.

I hope eventually the government regulates TW or breaks you up. We need competition in cable television and internet. We’re not getting it.
Jeff Simmermon
Aug 28, 2010
at 9:47 am

What part of New York are you in? Are you not eligible for DISH, Fios? From what I understand, Fios has been creeping into New York City pretty aggressively, which keeps us on our toes from a competitive perspective and gives you at least one other option. And pretty much means that we’re not a monopoly.
Jason
Aug 28, 2010
at 10:15 am

Disney didn’t pull all its programming from DISH, just its HD programming…so DISH subscribers still will have access to Disney, ESPN, DIsney XD, ABC Family, etc etc in Standard Def…is that the only issue we’ll be dealing with on Time Warner because from the way it sounds we won’t even have access to standard def?
Gordon Gregory
Aug 28, 2010
at 10:21 am

I am very sorry to hear that Disney (the king of Family entertainment) is playing such hard ball – forcing families to make hard choices. It is a very good point that switching won’t necessarily protect you – who knows that their contact is with the company that you would switch too.

Hopefully the talks get resolved and TW and Disney shake hands and walk away with both of their needs met.
Phil Morris
Aug 28, 2010
at 10:59 am

What a crock! Please, start whining that someone is forcing you to pay more to broadcast their programs! I love it when a large corporation who could care less about the customer all of a sudden starts to act like a victim because someone is “screwing” them over on rates. Funny thing, you have no problem doing that for years to your customer and now you want the customer to stand up to price gouging? Have you no shame??

Get a clue.
JT Gaughf
Aug 28, 2010
at 11:10 am

You had better start negotiating a little better. You can’t do without Disney and the various ABC come alongs. Your service level is mediocre at best. So, all you have to sell is your content. I’d be putting down some dollars on that negotiating table if I were you.
Tom Applegate
Aug 28, 2010
at 11:13 am

Something has to give . . . High salaries and costs are driving the negotiators to request higher payments from networks who turn around and charge the end consumer (through cable providers).

I say ‘cut them lose’ and let the networks price their product high and try to sell it direct to the consumer; I love football but I won’t pay special fees to watch. I love Disney but I won’t pay extra fees to watch. It’s all about greed from preceived monopoly and I won’t play.

Hold your ground Time Warner, this is one consumer who will stay true to you.
Paul Barcomb
Aug 28, 2010
at 11:50 am

Personally I believe TWC in regard to the fact that these negotiations are brutal and that Disney is at the point of pricing themselves out of the “Fair Market” category. I have been a TWC customer for almost ten years and TWC continues to make my bill affordable, year after year. I know they could charge me more yet they choose to keep me as a customer at a price I am willing and able to afford. This is enough proof for me to accept what TWC is saying about these negotiations since their message is consistent with my personal experience.

I think that if the cost is prohibitive, TWC should tell Disney to shove off and furthermore that TWC should then fully disclose the negotiation details. I wish I knew how to find out the percent of increase Disney wants to levy on TWC and its customers but my guess is that both parties are reluctant to disclose this information because of how damning it would be to the negotiations. I bet it is close to double or more.

Disney has been on a downward slide for a number of years. It seems that bad judgement and greed go hand in hand. Here in the worst economy known to most Americans alive today, this is when Disney chooses to drop the hammer! It is a filthy shame and Walt Disney must be very busy right now, rolling over – and over – and over in his grave….
TF
Aug 28, 2010
at 12:04 pm

So…TWC gets all its customers to sign up for a 2-year fixed payment plan, and then starts whining that its costs are going up? You took a risk when you offered us that plan at that cost as well as we did. You know the market and the potential increases you can face. I EXPECT to continue to receive all the same channels as always at the same price for two years. BTW-your commercials on TV do not create sympathy for your cause – in fact they are a bit annoying. Work out your business deals without interrupting our viewing. Maybe you should sell those TV spots to generate revenue vs. use them to whine!
helen
Aug 28, 2010
at 12:23 pm

Is there a modicum of consciousness “out there” with any of these corporations? We are in a nationwide recession and the financial outlook in California has been compromised for years! Washington is voting on whether to extend un-employment benefits and this is what we get from Time Warner and Disney???
kat
Aug 28, 2010
at 12:37 pm

…and you wonder why you have a poor customer service reputation?? When a company PR person responds to paying subscribers in an antagonistic, condescending manner then it is definitely time for those customers to move on…now if only I could stop getting placed on hold when I try to cancel my service.
Victoria Newton
Aug 28, 2010
at 12:56 pm

Gordon…If they pay the bills the cost comes down to us. So really we’d be paying the bill.

Jim C… Actually now with phone companies offering cable (I just saw an ad for ATT) and most shows freely available on the internet, there is plenty of competition. Many of my friends do not have TV and watch everything through Hulu and the like.

Jeff…Interesting information. I could care about the rest of the channels going away, but ESPN!! I can certainly say that is some cause for urgency. I have cable and DVR for 1 thing, car racing.
Chris
Aug 28, 2010
at 1:01 pm

You are a smug jerk Jeff, much like TWC you never take the higher road…I called you bluff Gordon, now what!?!? If I were him I would say I will move my account, that is not how you treat your customers.
John L.
Aug 28, 2010
at 1:40 pm

Remember only having 3 or 4 channels to watch…for FREE? There were hardly any commercial during the shows too. Hummm, now we are paying $100.00 a month of more to watch basically the same tv and the show to advertising ratio is about 48 percent. The wealthy are never satisfied!!! GREED – the new America.
Cindy Pietravalle
Aug 28, 2010
at 2:11 pm

Yeah it is pure Greed and the hell with us
everyone is out to make a profit but some want a bigger profit
and the hell with the customers
we have gotten to spoiled with all these channels
do we really need them?
Oh give us the good old days
We have become to addicted to the tube
Cindy Pietravalle
Aug 28, 2010
at 2:18 pm

I have been only with TW for less then 4 months and already heard about 2 price increase due to stations negotations
I have a 2 year deal I think?
they have taken out several channels from the basic and put into the digital box section-it is a good thing I have the digital boxes with the package otherwise I would have had to purchase a box
I honestly think they are going to do away with the basic
and require all to buy a digital box-
i am afraid to see what my price will go up to in less then 2 yrs
if only being a customer for less then 4months
It has to stop some where-can not keep putting the cost on to the consumres
Jake
Aug 28, 2010
at 2:52 pm

Ill pay the difference. I just want to be able to watch football games this year….send me the bill.
Rene Cardenas
Aug 28, 2010
at 3:02 pm

With all due respect to both: Comcast and Disney Companies, you both are a group of greed corporations that like to manipulate prices to increase your bottom line, like you not already have profit margins that very few other markets can match.

So shame in both of your marketing teams for attempting cheap scare tactics with your customers to manipulate public support and gain a negotiating edge during your talks.

Come on, enough already like this maneuver has not been played before. Get your discussions in terms of actual costs and minimum acceptable profits and let the public not be forced once again to pay higher rates, but it comes across loud and clear that neither of these companies are planning to reduce any of their large profits, and logically both will attempt to blame each other for raises to your end-users.

For once I would like to see these resolve and both companies resolve the cost and profit structures and not increase my bill, but I guess I can be accused of been an naïve optimist.

I challenge you Mr. Simmermon to let more critical postings be read by the masses, and give your companies a flavor of the wrath generated by their greed.
Jeff Simmermon
Aug 28, 2010
at 3:11 pm

Rene — I’ve actually published almost every comment that gets left on this blog. I got called a smug jerk personally a little earlier — totally let that one go public. I probably earned it. There’s no shortage of criticism of us that’s showing up on here, and that’s fine. We don’t expect everyone to agree with us. However, this is our point of view.
Dave A
Aug 28, 2010
at 3:44 pm

I would like to know how much my cable bill will go down if the ABC, Disney and ESPN programming is not there. Disney probably wouldn’t want everyone to know how much it is.
AJ Henderson
Aug 28, 2010
at 4:08 pm

Thanks for the update. To those who accuse Time Warner of not wanting to eat the cost, if you look at the numbers, 6% profit margin is not really that significant for the amount of expense and risk they have to maintain to keep the distribution network up and running smoothly. I’d say that they are doing their fair share of eating costs to try and keep things low and I’d say this campaign really is a good indicator of how customer focused they are as a company. I know I’d consider FiOS if it was available in my area, but mostly due to the advantages of Fiber to Premise distribution of internet, not because of any issue with Time Warner’s service. I had my issues with them going back years ago, but the last decade or so, I’ve found them to be a wonderful company to do business with.
Alan B
Aug 28, 2010
at 4:17 pm

Why do you have to bundle channel? Unbundle them and let customers pay for the channels they want. I pay for channels i do not want and do not get channels i want because i would have to pay for another bundle. It’s just a way for cable & satellite companies to make more money and then you want our support when stations try to charge more.

If ESPN or DIsney cost too much then customers will not pay and the channel will not get watched.
bill f
Aug 28, 2010
at 4:31 pm

in reality, i don’t want to pay for cable that doesn’t carry ESPN, ABC, and Disney (most of my viewing is on these channels). and if they are blocked on TW, i’ll switch to a provider that has them. who knows (or cares) what “may” happen down the line.

step up your negotiations. even though TW has a lot more money than I do, split the difference with me – i’ll pay half if you will. don’t try to scare me by simply saying Disney’s price gouging will be passed directly down to me. i don’t think TW is in any worse financial shape than their subscribers. and if they can’t work this out, they’ll be losing them by the thousands.
J N
Aug 28, 2010
at 4:46 pm

The people who has ATT and the rate increase you switch to TWC, Then when TWC rate increase, Then you switch to Dish. You people play to many games. You want to talk about TWC being monopoly. You have option! You have ATT,TWC,WOW,FIOS,DISH, the list keeps going and going and going…. Furthermore, You don’t understand. TWC,ATT,WOW, FIOS DISH and such pay to have channel like Disney, Espn, Abc. If TWC contract expire don’t you figure other provider will expire. HAHAHAHA, That mean if you switch from TWC to ATT you will have to deal with the contract expiring.
Allen
Aug 28, 2010
at 5:34 pm

I could care less about Disney or ESPN. Let them drop off.
chuck
Aug 28, 2010
at 5:44 pm

Nice breakdown of your budget. Didn’t mention your profits were 1 billion dollars last year. Kind of an important omission. Aeren’t public record laws a problem.
Rick H
Aug 28, 2010
at 6:03 pm

Great question Dave A, if I do not get Disney, ABC, or any of the ESPN channels (which account for about 75% of my total usage) how much can I expect to have my bill reduced. I am pretty certain that I already know the answer, because just like most companies we see the increase for extra expenses but never the decrease. I will tell you what, if TWC is so worried about upsetting their customers by raising costs, then how about providing and ala carte type option and allow customers to pay for what they want. Just see how many customers you lose if you “get tough”, unfortunately I will not be one of them since my apartment does not allow the dish and the only non-dish provider in the are is TWC. I will however reduce my service to basic cable and rely on the internet for everything else (which I will be moving to a different internet provider). So rather than sitting there and telling YOUR customers to fight against YOUR supplier, why don’t you act like a real company and decide if you want to keep the few customers who do not watch football happy or develop a real plan to meet the needs of the large percentage of your customers who do watch football and will be pissed if they can’t.
JS
Aug 28, 2010
at 6:53 pm

With all due respect, Mr. Simmermon, the difficulties in negotiation are irrelevant to me as a TWC subscriber. I have no doubt that Disney negotiates hard and perhaps a bit unfairly, given that they know that consumers want those channels. They have the leverage. Without the channels, however, TWC isn’t a viable cable option for most consumers. Certainly not for me and I won’t think twice about calling competing providers on September 1st. I understand what you are saying about Disney potentially pulling their channels from other providers – but I think it’s a fairly weak argument and at the very least, I’d have the Disney channels until that scenario came to fruition. It would go a long way with me if TWC would stop the eleventh hour posturing and make the deal – TWC WILL make the deal at some point and delaying it to any degree is just aggravating and frustrating to me as a subscriber.
SKIP
Aug 28, 2010
at 7:04 pm

WHO CARES!! TAKE DISNEY AND ESPN OFF I WILL BE HAPPY!! PBS RULES!! EVERY ONE IS NOT A AIRHEAD TEENAGER OR SPORTS JOCK; GET RID OF THE CRAP!!
SKIP
Aug 28, 2010
at 7:08 pm

IT LOOKS AS IF COMCAST IS WHINING AND BEGGING!! OH PLEASE DON’T CHANGE TO ANOTHER SERVICE!! I WOULD BUT THERE IS NO CHOICE IN MY AREA!!
Michael
Aug 28, 2010
at 8:20 pm

Hi Jeff,

Good to see you are reading all the responses and commenting where appropriate. One thing I notice in reading the comments, there are some customers who are passionate about at least some of the Disney channels and there are some who could care less about them. This makes me bring up a question I’ve thought about before and don’t recall getting a good understanding of the answer – and, with rates getting as high as they are and the advances in technology, this seems more relevant than ever…. I get something called “basic cable” from TWC which includes a LOT of channels (probably over 50) yet there are only maybe 10 I ever watch – why can’t I just get (and pay for) the channels I want? After all, On Demand and Pay per View is available for some programming. It seems like an ala cart approach could be less expensive for customers and would also force the programmers such as Disney to justify their costs with programming people want. I hope you can explain why we can’t have this or where I can find an explanation – from a business and technology perspective.
Dave in Ky
Aug 28, 2010
at 8:31 pm

I have read these comments and have read the website completely, I have tried to listen to both sides and make my own decisions.

Here is my perspective: I have owned Dish, and DirecTV for MULTIPLE years each and have heard the same stories from them during negotiations and even lost a bunch of my favorite channels on DirecTV while they raised my rates. I could not stand that for long so…

I SWITCHED to Dish network but it was nearly twice as expensive in the long run as Direct or cable and had 43 channels less than Direct or TWC, plus their channels were so pixilated it looked horrible all the time. I even had techs come out and check my cables and the equipment (cost me money) to make sure there was not a problem that caused the pixilation. Their response, “no problem we are just trying to carry too many channels on a finite bandwidth”. But we put up this for Direct Dish juggle for 8 years at our current location because there was nothing else.

The old cable company (TWC later took them over) refused run cable on my property to my house, a total of 323 feet. After TWC took over the old company I went to the office to ask them if they would give me service or the same run around. The cable tech beat me to my house!! He looked and said he could run the cable for $1000 dollars because 323 feet is a long way to burry a cable. He then looked at me and said if you rent the ditch digger and dig the trench we will run the cable for you and hook up for free. He gave me his personal cell number and said call when I was done with the trench. 3 hours later 6pm I called him, he and a partner came back out worked until 8pm (dark) hooking the cable to the main pole on the neighbors then ran it to the only pole on my property, set the conduit and started burying the cable. They came back out the next day ran the cable to my house hooked up my high speed internet and set up my cable boxes.
I have been a customer ever since, and will not change, unless TWC does something crazy like charge me for my LOCALS!! Or require a 2 year contract!
Thank you TWC, please don’t change.
steve
Aug 29, 2010
at 2:56 am

Add me to the list of people who would not pay for cable without ESPN. I am a huge sports fan and watch it all the time. My wife also loves ABC family and our family that stays over sometimes with younger kids loves Disney. I want to know that for those in contracts would we be released from these without buyouts since the channels available would not be the same as to what we agreed to in the first place?
Michael
Aug 29, 2010
at 5:29 am

Making yourself out as either the victim of Disney greed or as the consumers’ protector would be laughable were it no so hypocritical. After all, you already charge some of the highest rates in the country here in Los Angeles. And in my area we are without a viable alternative at this time (hopefully that is changing). Why is it necessary for you to pass along all increases to us the customers?

The service is truly atrocious. We cannot get through a full day without some outage. This is the entertainment capital of the world, yet you cannot seem to provide a reliable cable signal. Thus this kind of PR campaign truly rings hollow. You do not seem to care much about your customers. In time as more alternatives are presented your customers will not care for you.
Will
Aug 29, 2010
at 7:36 am

What really burns my azz is TW only puts crap stations on and charges outrageous prices for them! Then they make believe that they are being preyed upon by companies wanting more for shows knowing full well that they will pay whatever the company wants and pass a HUGE increase on to the subscribers anyway!! They give you stations that you do not want but a station that you really want there is no way in hell you will ever get it..I can see them totally being GONE in a couple years.. for the price of internet you can watch most any show that is on TV. Simply stated Time Warner SUCKS!!!
Dave
Aug 29, 2010
at 12:59 pm

Steve, agree with you totally on that one…….by the way, for the price we pay shouldn’t we also have the NFL NETWORK in our basic package!!
steve
Aug 29, 2010
at 2:07 pm

Dave, I would love to have the NFL Network, I wonder what the deal is with that?
Bobbie Lou
Aug 29, 2010
at 6:12 pm

husband (john) and I have sent many e-mails on this subject but evidentally they were way too TRUTHFUL for JEFFY to publish
Jeff H
Aug 29, 2010
at 6:33 pm

Does anyone have the answer on why we don’t have NFL NETWORK?
Jeff
Aug 29, 2010
at 10:50 pm

Jeff,

I would be careful who you decide to get too much tougher with…Your sports programming is already lacking. But, its your decision
To be honest I do not run your business so I cannot tell you what you should do. I know from a consumers perspective I have been growing unsatisfied with your service as of late. This is a change as when I switched initially to your “all in one” packaging a few years ago I was extremely happy.

The most recent restructuring of channels was disappointing (Rochester Market). The price of my service (All in One) has increased greatly over the past few years. The reliability of service is also questionable, maybe related to where I live. On a weekly basis one of my all in one service features will be unavailable for at least a period of time.

I service options at least good choices are highly limited. No Verizon, No google. We have frontier telephone. By all standards far inferior to TWC. However carving off part pieces of my all in one service is still possible.

I am currently weighing other service options. Will most likely stop by your Brockport store to have my current service reviewed. It appears what I am receiving is not completive with service available through DISH. I would like NFL network. I know you do not have. Thought you would have been able to work some thing out by now. However if you loose ESPN as well.. Suspect it will be DISH time.
Jeff Simmermon
Aug 29, 2010
at 11:13 pm

Bobbie — I’m sorry you’re upset here, as it’s certainly not my intention to leave anyone’s voice out of the discussion. These comments are posted as I get them, no editing. However, if you and your husband have sent e-mails about this to me, I haven’t published them. It’s bad form to publish an e-mail without explicitly asking permission from the sender, and there’s a perfectly good comments section right here for you to share your feelings within the right context.
Bob Schefke
Aug 29, 2010
at 11:43 pm

TWC whining about higher fee negotiations AGAIN! This seems to be an ongoing approach you have taken lately. I’m a senior citizen on a fixed income and only speak for me and my wife. We don’t need a hundred or so channels to watch and I can see the day coming when you and other companies are going to price me out, in which case I plan to put up an outside digital antenna and just be satisfied with the channels we can get for nothing. These are just comments from a person who remembers life before TV.
Brian
Aug 30, 2010
at 12:26 am

Jeff,

I appreciate the candid blog from yourself and fellow contributors. Regardless of who is at fault for a deal not being in place, if ESPN leaves my list of available programs, I will leave Time Warner Cable. Most of my TV viewing is ESPN. It is sad that both sides, in this round of negotiations, have reached out to the public to bash the other. Keep ESPN on my cable and get a deal done!