|
ABC-TV back on the air
|
 |
May 2, 2000: 12:50 a.m. ET
Interim pact with Time Warner returns ABC to cable network for now
|
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - A blank blue screen was replaced by "NYPD Blue" Tuesday night, hours after Walt Disney Co.'s ABC network flickered back onto the television screens of some 3.5 million Time Warner Cable customers, ending a 39-hour absence as Disney and Time Warner agreed to continue talks on compensation to July 15.
"ABC is back on the air in all markets and the problem has been put off until July," Time Warner Vice Chairman Ted Turner said Tuesday at a conference in Atlanta.
 But when the two sides resume talks, they will still be faced with tough issues, including Disney's wishes to add channels to Time Warner's systems, and Time Warner's unwillingness to accept a pact that tacks on a $300 million price tag to a previous deal.
Still, a tongue lashing from Federal Communications Commission chief William Kennard, who said that consumers should never be "held hostage" in a dispute such as this, may spur the bickering media giants toward a pact.
"The game of brinkmanship played this week deprived viewers of ABC network programming," he said in a statement. "This should never happen again. I urge these companies to resolve their differences and put this entire matter behind them."
Agreement came during press briefing
The surprise temporary agreement was hastily announced during a press conference in which Time Warner (TWX: Research, Estimates), the parent of CNNfn.com, announced it had submitted a new 10-year offer to Disney to reinstate transmission of ABC in hopes of resolving a bitter dispute over money and access to cable programming.
|
|
VIDEO
|
|
CNN's Mike Okwu reports on the events leading up to today's developments
|
|
Real
|
28K
|
80K
|
|
Windows Media
|
28K
|
80K
|
|
"Disney has agreed at this point to allow us to put (ABC) back on," said Joe Collins, chairman and chief executive of Time Warner Cable. "We think it's important that the programming go back on."
In a statement, ABC said it agreed to offer its programming services to Time Warner until July 15 "for free." "Wanting to restore service as quickly as possible to those who depend on us, we too are willing to compromise."
At the press conference, Time Warner Cable's Collins said he had offered a five and one-half month extension that would have run until near the end of 2000. He said he "reluctantly" agreed to the shorter period ABC wanted.
 "It's sort of a peace mood while we attempt to negotiate the other details of the agreement," he said shortly after 3 p.m. in New York.
Minutes later, ABC's "General Hospital" soap opera popped onto New York's local station on the Time Warner system, replacing a scrolling message that had appeared there for just over one and one-half days. The message read, "Disney has taken ABC away from you."
A Time Warner spokeswoman said that affected stations across the country, including ABC-owned affiliates in Los Angeles, Houston and Philadelphia, were rapidly being switched back on.
Pointing fingers
Both sides blamed the other for the unfortunate incident, which angered customers in key television markets across the nation.
Time Warner said it lost the "legal right" to carry ABC stations at 12:01 a.m. Monday, and could not transmit the signal without an agreement from Disney (DIS: Research, Estimates). ABC insisted throughout that it gave Time Warner permission on April 26 to continue to carry the stations.
Monday night, viewers in major markets like New York, Houston and Los Angeles, were unable to see a celebrity version of ABC's top-rated program, "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire," and the second part of ABC's mini-series "Arabian Nights," unless they hooked 'rabbit ears' antenna to their television sets, or tuned in via a satellite dish.
Tom Kane, president and general Manager of WABC-TV, ABC's flagship station in New York, said the company likely lost viewers during the night.
"We are sure that we lost a little," Kane said. "We were off for a day and a half, and when you have no ability to get into 3.5 million households, they are lost."
Despite the loss of those viewers, "Millionaire," a ratings juggernaut that has transformed ABC's entire programming schedule, and influenced decision-makers at all of the major networks, on Monday was seen by about 35 million people. Another 500,000 to 1 million viewers may have been shut out by the dispute, according to the Associated Press.
The show garnered a 22.1 rating nationally (a rating point represents 994,000 households), compared to its top rating of 17.0 last week, and enjoyed an even higher rating in the New York area, despite the blackout.
FCC mulling the issue
The FCC, addressing appeals from Disney for help in the matter, met late Monday to discuss the dispute over transmission rights between the media titans. Time Warner's Collins said the company had complied with the FCC's request for its side of the dispute. ABC has charged that it was illegal for Time Warner to drop ABC's signal during this month's critical "sweeps" period.
FCC spokesman David Fiske said ABC's petition for a declaratory ruling is still being considered, but that there is no timetable for when the FCC will comment on the matter.
 "The bureau is still reviewing it," he said.
Time Warner's contract to carry ABC officially ended Dec. 31, but negotiations to renew that agreement continually stalled over how much Time Warner should pay to carry ABC's programming, as allowed under the 1992 Cable TV Act.
In exchange for the right to carry ABC owned stations, Disney had been pressing Time Warner Cable to put the Disney channel in its basic service package. In addition, Disney wanted Time Warner to carry two new channels -- the Disney Toon channel and the Soap Channel.
Time Warner officials said they had agreed to those terms -- including the money Disney wanted as fees to carry the cable networks -- in December but that Disney had pulled pack the agreement, saying it wanted more money. Time Warner officials put the higher price tag Disney wanted at $300 million.
 Both sides, while still contentious, offered hopes that a pact will be worked out.
"The idea of shorter terms is to get the parties back to the table, and negotiating so we can all move past this," said WABC's Kane. "Two and a half months should be more than ample time."
Offered Time Warner's Collins, "I think if the cable industry and the broadcasting industry really begin to understand that we're really partners out there in delivering television programming to cable customers and their viewers, then we can avoid a lot of this kind of stuff in the future."
Shares of Time Warner fell 2-3/4 to 86-1/8 on Tuesday, while Disney shares rose 1 to 43. 
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
