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Tag: CBS

  • Three million homes have no CBS service via TWC

    Three million homes have no CBS service via TWC

    MUMBAI: As Time Warner Cable and CBS continue their negotiating deadlock, Starcom MediaVest researcher Sam Armando has discovered how widespread the blackouts are individually in the New York, Los Angeles and Dallas markets. TWC has refused to make the figures available.

     

    Armando writes in a blog post that 17 per cent of homes in both New York and Dallas are without the local CBS station, while the figure climbs to 26 per cent in the Los Angeles market.

     

    On a national level, the number of homes with CBS-owned local stations blacked out is around 3.2 million, according to CBS. Showtime is off the air across TWC’s national footprint, as TWC and CBS continue to battle over terms of re-upping a carriage deal. The blackouts started 2 August.

     

    CBS has called on talent to encourage TWC customers to switch providers and on Monday brought the Manning brothers into the fold. A newspaper ad in New York might suggest CBS thinks the blackouts could continue until 15 September.

     

    “You could miss this historic matchup,” the ad reads, referring to the New York Giants vs. Denver Broncos game on that Sunday, with Peyton and Eli Manning facing off.

     

    The ad also suggests viewers could miss the much-anticipated college game between Alabama and Texas A&M on 14 September “featuring Heisman winner Johnny Manziel.” That copy could become moot any day now as Manziel is under NCAA investigation for receiving payments for his autograph; he could be suspended for the game.

  • Time Warner Cable supplies customers with rabbit ears “TV antennas” during CBS Blackout

    Time Warner Cable supplies customers with rabbit ears “TV antennas” during CBS Blackout

    MUMBAI: Time Warner Cable is trying out a traditional solution to its longstanding CBS blackout problem. The cable operator has started offering free television antennas to help its customers continue watching their favorite CBS shows via broadcast signals. The offer is particularly effective in major cities including Los Angeles, Dallas, and New York.

    The cable company notified its customers in affected areas about its latest offer that would serve as a temporary solution to the CBS blackout. It has posted the message on its Website and has sent communication through email. Time Warner Cable is giving away basic indoor antennas to its subscribers. The tool could be claimed at any Time Warner Cable store. It is also offering a $20 voucher to each customer who prefers to purchase TV antennas at any Best Buy location.

  • Time Warner Cable supplies customers with rabbit ears “TV antennas” during CBS Blackout

    MUMBAI: Time Warner Cable is trying out a traditional solution to its longstanding CBS blackout problem. The cable operator has started offering free television antennas to help its customers continue watching their favorite CBS shows via broadcast signals. The offer is particularly effective in major cities including Los Angeles, Dallas, and New York.

    The cable company notified its customers in affected areas about its latest offer that would serve as a temporary solution to the CBS blackout. It has posted the message on its Website and has sent communication through email. Time Warner Cable is giving away basic indoor antennas to its subscribers. The tool could be claimed at any Time Warner Cable store. It is also offering a $20 voucher to each customer who prefers to purchase TV antennas at any Best Buy location.
     
  • Emmys moving to August in 2014 to avoid football conflict

    Emmys moving to August in 2014 to avoid football conflict

    MUMBAI: The 65th Primetime Emmys telecast is still more than a month away but plans already are afoot for next year’s show.

     

    According to media reports the 66th Primetime Emmys will be broadcast not in September, as in most years, but rather in late August 2014 to avoid a conflict with NBC’s Sunday Night Football. According to sources the TV Academy has fixed 24 August for the awards.

     

    The move is not a surprise. Each of the big four broadcast networks – ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC – get to air the Emmys once every four years. Next year is NBC’s turn, and the network has scheduled the show in August each of the last two times it hosted. (NBC aired the Emmys on Aug. 27, 2006 and Aug. 29, 2010; every other Emmys ceremony since 2002 has aired in Sept.)

     

    The reason for NBC’s preference for earlier air-dates is that, in 2006, the network acquired rights to air Sunday Night Football, and it does not want to have to pick between the two ratings magnets (the NFL season always kicks off in early Sept.). During the 2012-2013 season, SNF was the highest-rated, most-watched show on TV, according to Nielsen.

  • Dish Network and Raycom Media resolve retransmission dispute

    Dish Network and Raycom Media resolve retransmission dispute

    MUMBAI: The companies say that Raycom stations will be back on Dish Network “overnight,” and didn’t provide any details about the agreement.

    The broadcaster owns or controls 53 stations in 36 markets including ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, CW, and MyNetworkTV affiliates in cities including Cleveland, Toledo, Honolulu, Tucson, Baton Rouge, West Palm Beach, Louisville, and Memphis.

    The stations went dark on Dish on 1 August when the previous carriage contract expired. Dish accounts for about 15 per cent of Raycom’s viewers, according to data from SNL Kagan.

  • Fox files for New Dish Network hearing in Hopper ad-zapping case

    Fox files for New Dish Network hearing in Hopper ad-zapping case

    MUMBAI: Despite another rejection last month of its last attempt to pull the plug on Dish Network’s Hopper, 21st Century Fox is stepping back into the legal fray in its battle against the ad-jumping DVR service. The broadcaster filed a brief with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this week requesting a brand new review of the 24 July ruling to be heard by all the court’s judges. The previous ruling shut down Fox’s aim for an injunction against the Hopper.

    For Fox, that was an error and raised the stakes even higher. “The panel announced two unprecedented rules of law that threaten the creation and licensing of television shows, movies, books, software, or other copyrighted content,” said the August 7 filing.

    With this latest request, Fox may have reached the point where they are now truly grinding away in this satcaster case. Last month’s ruling in Dish’s favor rebuffed Fox’s notion that letting viewers essentially erase the ads in TV shows was a fatal blow to the broadcast industry’s business model.

    The late July ruling came out an appeal by the broadcaster after a previous District Court ruling in November of 2012 ended up in the satellite service provider’s favor. Then US District Court Judge Judge Dolly Gee refused to block sales of the Hopper, even though she agreed with Fox that Dish has likely committed copyright infringement. Introduced in May of last year by Dish, the service lets subscribers to leap past commercials in programs that have been recorded off network TV the day before. CBS, NBC and Fox all filed copyright infringement suits almost immediately against Dish to get the service stopped.

  • CBS-TWC in a tiff over digital services

    CBS-TWC in a tiff over digital services

    MUMBAI: The blackout dispute between CBS and Time Warner Cable has shifted from the TV set to the tablet.

    In their latest heated exchange, TWC claims that CBS wants to charge higher fees while shortchanging it on digital programming rights that it “has provided to others.”

    CBS contends that the cable-TV outfit is aiming to get digital rights for free or inhibit licensing deals with newer online rivals like Netflix and Amazon.

    The battle between the two companies, which has left CBS-owned TV stations dark in New York and other cities, underscores how the demand for digital rights, including the ability to watch shows on tablets and other mobile devices, is overshadowing the traditional cable bundle.

    On Monday, TWC honcho Glenn Britt offered to end the five-day blackout and pay a higher rate – $2 a month per subscriber, up from $1 now – in exchange for video-on-demand and digital rights to CBS and Showtime programming under the terms of their old contract.

    In response, CBS head Les Moonves argued that the terms of the 2008 deal no longer apply.

    “Those terms and conditions, better known as rights, were established in 2008,” Moonves wrote in his rebuttal. “That was before the introduction of the iPad. Netflix was still doing little but mailing out DVDs. Amazon was known simply for selling books.”

    Moonves wants to protect future digital revenue and doesn’t want TWC limiting his ability to sell shows such as The Big Bang Theory to whomever he sees fit.

    For its part, TWC wants to protect its turf. It doesn’t want CBS giving Amazon preferential treatment to air shows such as miniseries Under the Dome if it’s paying huge fees to carry CBS, according to those familiar with the talks.

    As one cable executive told The Post, “The program guys want all the Amazon revenue to be incremental, and the cable guys are saying we’re not doing that anymore. We want to compete and offer the same experience.”

  • Amber Tamblyn to play Charlie’s daughter in ‘Two and a Half Men’

    Amber Tamblyn to play Charlie’s daughter in ‘Two and a Half Men’

    MUMBAI: CBS’ Two and a Half Men has found Charlie Harper’s long-lost daughter.

    House alum Amber Tamblyn has been tapped to join the Chuck Lorre comedy as a recurring guest star for season 11.

    The Joan of Arcadia star will play Jenny, the illegitimate lesbian daughter of Charlie (Charlie Sheen), who moves to LA to pursue acting and connect with what’s left of her family. She likes everything her dad liked – including women. Tamblyn will recur in at least five episodes of the CBS comedy, with an option to become a series regular.

    CBS renewed Men in April for an 11th season, with Angus T. Jones’ role reduced to a recurring status as the 19-year-old attends college – something that Lorre champions, as the young actor has spent more time on a TV set than at school.

    “It’s really commendable that he wants to make that the next part of his life,” Lorre said, acknowledging Jones’ controversial remarks aimed at the show that made him a star. “He misstepped last year, and it’s just not fair to judge him on that. I certainly hope he comes back from time to time. But for now he’s embarking on a new life.”

    Tamblyn most recently starred in CBS’ Anatomy of Violence drama pilot from the creators of Homeland. It was passed over in May. Her credits include episodes of Portlandia and Inside Amy Schumer as well as 127 Hours, Django Unchained and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movies.

  • Paramount set to revive Beverly Hills Cop series

    Paramount set to revive Beverly Hills Cop series

    MUMBAI: The fourth film in the series is under discussion to be produced, after looking at the success of the TV series pilot episode last year.

     

    The first film was released in 1984 and the third in 1994 after which it stopped. The first three installments together grossed about $750 million.

     

    Eddie Murphy will still be playing the role of Axel Foley, the Detroid-based tough cop. Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec who have had successful stints in movies such as Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are also part of the ensemble.

     

    The decision came after a tough bidding for the series on TV ensued, before going to CBS. The pilot was produced by Sony Pictures TV with Paramount as rights holder. However, the series was never aired but it has created enough buzz to be made into a fourth installment in the franchise.

  • Time Warner Cable, CBS at loggerheads over distribution deal

    Time Warner Cable, CBS at loggerheads over distribution deal

    MUMBAI: Although neither side is taking shots at each other publicly, there is an undercurrent of tension between Time Warner Cable (TWC) and CBS Corp as the two companies attempt to negotiate a new distribution deal.

    TWC‘s agreement to carry CBS-owned TV stations including KCBS in Los Angeles, the basic cable channels CBS Sports Network and Smithsonian, and the pay network Showtime expired at the end of June. Since then, there have been a couple of extensions, the latest one running to a few days before the end of the month.

     

    CBS is looking for a hefty increase. Chief executive Leslie Moonves has not been shy about making the case that the network should be getting more than popular cable channels.TNT, for example, gets over $1 per-subscriber, per-month, according to industry consulting firm SNL Kagan.

    CBS has yet to have a so-called retransmission consent negotiation reach the point where its signal went off a pay-TV distributor because of a contract dispute.

    Another component complicating these talks is Showtime. Because it is a premium channel, consumers opt to subscribe to it rather than having to take it as part of their pay-TV package. It is unlikely that Showtime would be yanked along with CBS‘ other channels as such a move would take money out of both companies‘ pockets.

    Neither side is commenting publicly on the negotiations.