Cablevision in War with Walt Disney

For two years Cablevision has been carrying Disney’s WABC-TV station in New York City for free, and now Disney wants some money for it.

Walt Disney Co. wants Cablevision to pay $40 million dollars annually for the right to carry channel WABC. With over 3 million subscribers in New York City, that equals to about $1 per subscriber, per month.

It will be a lose-lose situation if neither companies reach a deal. Cablevision's subscribers would get angry while ABC would lose ratings and advertising.

Disney plans to pull the plug at midnight tonight, which couldn’t come at a more convenient time for Disney since the Oscars will be televised tomorrow.

On Friday, Cablevision said it will be up to Disney CEO Bob Iger if New York will get to see the Oscars tomorrow.

Cablevision spokesman Charles Schueler said, “There is one man who is going to decide whether New York gets to see the Oscars, and that's Disney President and CEO Bob Iger. Cablevision already pays Disney more than $200 million a year and now they are demanding $40 million more. We call on Bob Iger to stop holding his own viewers hostage, end his threats to pull the plug on ABC at midnight and instead work with us to reach a fair agreement. The switch is in Bob Iger’s hands.”

The $200 million mentioned are fees that Cablevision pays for Disney’s cable channels such as ESPN and the Disney Channel.