CBS and Time Warner Reach Deal

The retrans pissing match between CBS and Time Warner Cable has come to an end and of course it is the customer that will end up getting screwed. 

Less than a week before the kickoff of the NFL season, Time Warner Cable yesterday cut a deal with CBS to resume carrying the network’s programming.

The agreement ended a blackout that began a month ago when TWC balked at CBS’s demand for a monthly, $2-per-customer fee — up from an earlier charge estimated at between 50 and 75 cents.

Terms of the new pact weren’t revealed, but any increased costs are expected to be passed on to cable subscribers in the form of higher monthly bills.

In a statement, Time Warner Cable Chairman and CEO Glenn Britt expressed appreciation for viewers’ “patience and loyalty.”

“As in all of our negotiations, we wanted to hold down costs and retain our ability to deliver a great video experience for our customers,” he said.

“While we certainly didn’t get everything we wanted, ultimately, we ended up in a much better place than when we started.”

In a memo to CBS employees, company CEO Leslie Moonves said, “This was a far more protracted dispute than anyone at CBS anticipated, but in spite of the pain it caused to all of us, and, most importantly, the inconvenience to our viewers who were affected, it was an important one, and one worth pursuing to a satisfactory conclusion.”

Moonves said the network will be “receiving fair compensation for CBS content, and we also have the ability to monetize our content going forward on all the new, developing platforms that are right now transforming the way people watch television.”

H/T NY Post