Time Warner Cable tried to put an end to the dispute with CBS Monday, but CBS CEO Les Moonves shot back, calling the cable provider’s offer a “sham.” It appears that the two sides are still no closer to coming back to the negotiating table, meaning that over 3 million TWC subscribers will remain without CBS.
The dispute over how much TWC will pay CBS to carry its networks escalated Friday night when CBS went dark for subscribers in Los Angeles, New York, Dallas and elsewhere.
Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt wrote a letter to Moonves on Monday, in which he proposed an “immediate resumption” of CBS under terms the two sides on had “reluctantly” agreed on at some point during the negotiations. According to The Wall Street Journal, Britt also suggested another alternative to get CBS back on an “a la carte basis at a price and on terms of its choosing.”
That option would give customers a chance to pay individually for CBS and its networks. “This way, rather than our debating the point, we would allow customers to decide for themselves how much value they ascribe to CBS programming,” Britt said.
In his response, Moonves said that Britt’s letter didn’t have a “sincere or helpful proposal” in it, notes Fox News. He also called the offer a “sham.”
“Anyone familiar with the entertainment business knows that this is an empty gesture. The economics and structure of the cable industry have created a certain way that content is distributed and compensated,” Moonves continued. “We both know that a true a la carte universe is not one that Time Warner Cable welcomes.”
He asked TWC to “return to the negotiating table and talk about the real issues that separate us.”
image: CBS