The retransmission fee fight between CBS and Time Warner Cable is still ongoing and took a strange turn overnight. After talks broke down following a full day of negotiations on Monday, Time Warner briefly pulled CBS from subscribers in major markets. Less than a half an hour later, though, the network was back.
According to The Associated Press, at 9 p.m., TWC confirmed that subscribers in Dallas, New York and Los Angeles were losing CBS because of “outrageous demands for fees” from CBS.
“We offered to pay reasonable increases, but CBS's demands are out of line and unfair -- and they want Time Warner Cable to pay more than others pay for the same programming,” the statement continued.
CBS had enough time to issue a counter-statement, saying that it was asking for fair compensation. At the same time, it had asked TWC to back down and that they would continue talks. TWC agreed, ending plans for the blackout and talks started up again.
“CBS remains resolute in the pursuit of fair compensation for our programming and will use the full resources available to us to make sure that Time Warner Cable subscribers are aware of its shortsighted, anti-consumer strategy,” a statement from CBS read.
The New York Times reports that the new deadline for an agreement is set for 5 p.m. Friday.
TWC has claimed that CBS is looking for a 600 percent increase in fees, but CBS denies this number.
“As we've said, we feel like we should be paid for our programming,” CBS CEO LEs Moonves said on Monday at the Television Critics Association Press Tour.
CBS is the most-watched of the main networks and also owns Showtime, the home of Dexter and Homeland.