----- Original Message -----
From: stannc
For the benefit of all of the new clients that DirecTV pulled in during the
recent Belo vs TWC negotiations, DirecTV is having their own battle with
Raycom. Here in Charlotte, that means that WBTV (CBS) will go dark for
DirecTV's dishes at midnight on Friday 12/31.
And meanwhile, it's Suddenlink v Viacom:
«Update on Viacom Negotiations
We continue negotiating to renew a contract that expires at midnight, this
Friday, Dec. 31, and covers a number of cable TV networks owned by Viacom, a
New-York based media conglomerate. The affected channels are listed at the
end of this email.
Unfortunately, despite a challenging economic environment, Viacom wants a
more than 20% overall increase in what they're paid, which includes
significant payment for a new network with R-rated programming that you have
not requested and may not want.
As contract deadlines draw near, Viacom has a history of using scare
tactics. For instance, two years ago, with the customers of another cable
company, Viacom exploited some of its own characters, like Dora the Explorer
and SpongeBob SquarePants, depicting them as crying over the prospect of
being taken "off the air." Those tactics were misleading and unfair.
First, only Viacom would force its programming "off the air." Second,
Viacom tried to leverage its children's programming to extract higher
payments.
(For illustrations of Viacom's scare tactics, follow this link,
http://pics.livejournal.com/coryoconnor/pic/005c62wb, or this one,
http://www.cartoonbrew.com/business/viacom-uses-cartoon-stars-to-ask-for-a-raise.html.)
Hopefully, Viacom will forego such measures and instead negotiate with us in
good faith to establish a new contract with fair and reasonable terms for
you.
In the unusual event these negotiations are unsuccessful and Viacom removes
its channels, we reiterate our pledge to reduce your bill by the cost of the
affected channels for whatever length of time they are unavailable.
We will provide further updates when there is a material change in the
status of these negotiations. Check our blog for more information:
http://www.suddenlinkfyi.com.»
_ _
|_>|_> Brad Beam- on vacation, Orlando FL
|_>|_> http://www.facebook.com/74bmw
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