CBS took another shot at Time Warner Cable today, bringing up a lawsuit in Los Angeles that the network has nothing to with today. Meanwhile, politicians are starting to play a role in the ongoing dispute, with Massachusetts Sen. Edward Markey asking the FCC to step in.
Earlier this week, the two sides traded statements after TWC CEO Glenn Britt sent a letter to CBS CEO Les Moonves, suggesting that they go with terms they “reluctantly” agreed to at one point during talks or offer CBS ‘a la carte’ to subscribers. Moonves called the letter a “sham” and CBS remains blocked out for 3 million TWC subscribers in LA, New York, Dallas and elsewhere.
CBS sent an email to the press, bringing their attention to a lawsuit filed in June by TWC subscribers over the cost of TWC’s sports network. “In Los Angeles, TWC is on the other side of the table in terms of rights fees,” CBS said, reports TheWrap.
The suit centers on TWC’s broadcast of Lakers games, which costs subscribers an extra $4 a month if they want the channel. It comes to $49 for each subscriber for the 52 exclusive games the Lakers network airs. CBS suggests that TWC is going to try a similar move with Dodgers games.
TWC spent $3 billion to acquire the Lakers games and $8 billion to acquire Dodgers games, notes Deadline.
Meanwhile, in Washington, Markey is trying to get the FCC to stop the blackout. According to The LA Times, Markey wrote to the FCC, “I believe the public interest would be best served if carriage is restored by the parties at the earliest possible time so that consumers are not long caught in the middle.” Markey also took aim at CBS’ decision to pull access to online videos for TWC subscribers, calling it “anti-consumer.”
“A consumer’s choice of cable television provider should not be tied to her ability to access Internet content that is freely available to other consumers,” Markey wrote. “In such instances, consumers lose their freedom to access the Internet content of their choice.”
image: CBS