UPDATE:
This is what you need to do tomorrow to help keep Time Warner from blacking out Comedy Central (and 18 other Viacom Networks) on January 1st at 12:01 AM:
Call Time Warner at 1-800-762-3786 and ask them to say NO to the blackout, and yes to keeping Comedy Central!
Call Viacom CEO Phillipe Dauman (pronounced DOH-mon) at 1-212-258-6000 and ask him to get back to the table and stop Time Warner from blocking 19 Viacom channels!
If you use Facebook, please spread the word by joining the Keep Colbert on the Ert – Call Time Warner to keep Comedy Central! Facebook group. Get the word out to your friends – we need our Comedy Central!
I would first like to formally apologize to my neighbors and husband who just heard a very loud “AW HELLLL NO!” from the vicinity of my computer.
Just got this tip from AArtVark and Vigwig about a news story that hits very close to home, via a very trusted and reliable blogger, Nikki Finke’s Deadline Hollywood Daily:
UPDATE:
What an awful way to ring in 2009. It turns out that Viacom claims it has been trying to negotiate a “fair” renewal of its prized cable channels for months and months, but reputedly Time Warner Cable has been unresponsive and “unreasonable” so talks have stalled. The nation’s 2nd largest cable system operator, in turn, claims Viacom is asking for “exorbitant” increases inc arriage fees which would have to be passed along to the customer. So now this fight between the two Big Media giants will hurt cable viewers. At 12:01 AM on January 1st, just after the ball drops in Time Square, Time Warner Cable’s 13.3 million subscribers will lose 19 Viacom channels — Comedy Central; CMT: Pure Country; Logo; Palladia; MTV; MTV 2; MTV Hits; MTV Jams; MTV Tr3s; Nickelodeon; Noggin; Nick 2; Nicktoons; Spike; The N; TV Land; Vh1; Vh1 Classic; Vh1 Soul.…
This affects all U.S. Time Warner cable subscribers including those in New York and Los Angeles. Alex Dudley, a vice president at Time Warner Cable, the nation’s second-largest cable operator, is telling reporters that the dispute with Viacom “is that they have asked for an exorbitant increase in their carriage fees and their network ratings are sagging.” However, Nickelodeon is 2008’s No. 1 basic cable network, drawing the largest audience in its history. MTV, on the other hand, has seen ratings slide. Time Warner Cable claims it’s “trying to hold the line on fees for our customer” — but it’s really worried that if Viacom gets its raises, then every cable programmer will want them.
Nikki is very thorough about explaining the technicalities behind the impending blackout and I would highly suggest going over to her blog to read the whole post. If you can get past the “no more Comedy Central” part that literally had me screaming out loud.
Ok, I’m so irritated right now that I don’t even know where to start about blogging my anger. I live in a building with one cable option and I’m on the 10th floor and, being a high rise, dishes are not allowed hanging off the side of the building. Time Warner is my *only* option. Thank God for ColbertNation.com – at least I can watch full versions of the show on my computer … in the morning.
I’m going to stop this rant right now – I don’t want to become one of “those bloggers”. And the story isn’t about me, it’s about Time Warner being total arse clowns. But I digress.
Hopefully this will get resolved soon, but until then, there are going to be some VERY unhappy Time Warner customers come January 1st at 12:01 AM. We’ll keep you posted as soon as we hear. Also, I’ll keep you posted on any letter writing campaigns that may be started to let Time Warner know that the fans of these networks are NOT happy with their decision to turn these Viacom channels off. Here’s Viacom suggestion, via YouTube and featuring a few “Colbert Report” clips.
Please try to keep your venting as family friendly as possible, which I understand is rather difficult. Thanks.
Hopefully all this talk will turn out to be just negotiating bluster. As far as TDS/TCR goes there are also full episodes on hulu, but you have to wait till the next morning. But losing 13.3mm subscribers won’t be good for either shows.
I think Viacom/Time Warner are underestimating the level of rage that dropping Jon and Stephen will engender.
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Rage indeed… There are certain things that I like to watch in a timely manner. It’s not good to watch them the next day, and if paying for cable can’t deliver what it should, then hell, I might as well look for other options.
Earlier in 2008, when TWCable was taking over from Comcast in the Los Angeles area I was being driven bonkers by cable outages because Comcast had not kept up maintenance pre-sale and TWC was dragging it’s feet post sale.
How about they keep the damn channels on while they’re working out the money details?… It’s not like they’re going to drop Viacom from the channel lineup, so all the posturing and threats and if it comes down to it – the cutting off of the nose to spite the face will only serve to annoy the customer that are paying good money for service… Arrgh! What a bunch of rat-bastards!
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Whaaa? That’s insanity! I have comcast here but dang, they can’t just yank those channels! When I first glanced at this I thought that it meant Comedy Central was gonna be gone for good (as in no longer existing, ceasing to be) and I had a moment of sheer panic. Let’s hope this doesn’t become an actuality! It would hurt the ratings for all those channels like crazy I’m sure.
capta: mother plummer, seems like a suitable term for the people causing all this ruckus!
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Since there’s 2 sides to this failed negotiation [oh joy, another one!] can I remind you of last year’s call Viacom campaign
http://www.nofactzone.net/?p=2903#more-2903
This part is the relevant part
Phillipe Dauman (pronounced doh-mon), Viacom
1-212-258-6000
Call Mr. Dauman and ask him to get with the program and make a fair deal with Time Warner Cable so TCR & TDS fans don’t have to suffer come January 1, 2009
I’d invite the whole of Colbert Nation to come to my house in the sticks of Virginia for your regular Colbert Fixes (we have DISHNetwork) but I don’t have enough guest rooms for all y’all, even if you stretch and call the horse stalls in the barn (they’re clean and equine ready but no horses are living in it) guest rooms. And it’s too cold for you to camp out in the pastures :-(
Still call *both* sides and ask them to get their stuff together before they *f* up their mutually good thing
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I had a moment of shock myself until I remembered that I don’t have TimeWarner. We have Charter here. I won’t be affected, but I can’t even imagine the pain that will cause all the TimeWarner subscribers. I hope this is short for you. Is there any way I can help the rest of the Nation?
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Yes – CALL!
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Wow, thank goodness for the internet. hulu.com and http://www.southparkstudios.com will be my salvation.
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Moment of Zen for NFZers
http://community.livejournal.com/whywewatchljcom/41121.html
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this reminds me in someway of the WFAA Channel 8-ABC problems with Charter Communications. Hopefully like that issue, this one will work itself out.
But right now it looks to be an unhappy New Year in the Big D…. :P
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Seeing as how I live in downtown Dallas, I feel your pain more than you know.
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* okay, my unhappy tongue sticking out face turned into a smile. If it has to be that way, I say my expression means I am laughing in the face of adversity!
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KMOV Channel 4 in St. Louis is battling the same thing with Charter. I wonder if they have the same owner…
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I have Comcast, so i am ok…
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Okay, calmed down a little and took down my snarky graphic. Sure was fun while it lasted, though.
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I’m annoyed by both sides. Viacom’s screw-up is just more nonsense on top of the ridiculous ways they’ve been handling online content. Time Warner’s move doesn’t sound so hot either.
Way to show the viewers you care, companies.
… And that’s all I can say while keeping it family friendly.
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Ok, I’m keeping this family friendly but I am really ticked right now. And not just at Time Warner, who is our cable provider. I’m also way ticked at Viacom! Both sides are behaving badly here. Viacom wants more money, even though they collect revenue from their shows they show online, from TW so TW can continue to air those shows. TW is balking at it for their own selfish reasons. Here is another article about it.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081231/viacom_time_warner_cable.html
Yes, I can watch TDS and TCR online and yes, my kids will survive just fine without Nickelodeon and Noggin but this is just so completely goshdarn stupid I want to go smack the CEO’s heads together!
AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!
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Isn’t Redstone the one being lame here?
Hmm. It’s so hard for me to take sides when both participants are soulless, corporate monsters. Also, I don’t have cable or see the point in it. More importantly, I don’t have much hope of ever paying off my student loans, getting caught up on my mortgage payments or getting braces for my son. lol
The fact that Viacom is pulling this protest–using the same viral campaigning the writers used in their fight with Viacom for FAIR pay–during a time when millions of Americans are struggling to keep their electricity on, nevermind their dirty, useless cable, shows how out of touch the company is–and/or how unbelievably, unapologetically greedy.
Redstone’s all–it’s just a little $.25 a month. So small an amount to the little people, but it means so much to me…us…to us, I mean. To Viacom.
Remember during the writer’s strike when Viacom was the enemy? They still are. They are the enemy.
So is TIME WARNER. I say call up tomorrow and cancel your cable. It feels good to not have cable. I’ve been doing it for more than a decade.
This will be quickly resolved, in Viacom’s favor, I suspect, and at the expense of viewers.
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Both of these giant companies can suck it far as I’m concerned. Millions of Americans right now are struggling to pay their electric bills, much less their cable bills, and we are supposed to get behind Viacom’s push for more money. Viacom’s all, ‘It’s only $.25 a month! Such a small amount to the little people. But it means so much to us.”
Remember when Viacom was the enemy? During the writer’s strike, when writer’s were desperately unemployed for — how long?–in a battle to get Viacom et. al. to pony up $.04 more for DVD’s. Ah, I can’t even remember. Anyway, the writers ended up rather compromising, right?
There won’t be a compromise this time, I’m betting. I’m betting Viacom will have its way, and the people who pay TIME WARNER cable for content that is 99.9% utter crap, will end up paying $.25 more per month so that they can keep a steady drip of “opiate of the masses” coursing through their over-worked, under-nourished minds long enough to get them through the evening meal and into the sweet release of sleep without having to fully realize the hopelessness and injustice of their situation.
I say, cancel your cable and take up drinking. It got us through the industrial revolution and the first great depression, and it can bloody well get us through this.
Seriously, though, I really don’t understand why people pay for cable at all anymore.
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Both of these giant companies can suck it far as I’m concerned. Millions of Americans right now are struggling to pay their electric bills, much less their cable bills, and we are supposed to get behind Viacom’s push for more money. Viacom’s all, ‘It’s only $.25 a month! Such a small amount to the little people. But it means so much to us.”
Remember when Viacom was the enemy? During the writer’s strike, when writer’s were desperately unemployed for — how long?–in a battle to get Viacom et. al. to pony up $.04 more for DVD’s. Ah, I can’t even remember. Anyway, the writers ended up rather compromising, right?
There won’t be a compromise this time, I’m betting. I’m betting Viacom will have its way, and the people who pay TIME WARNER cable for content that is 99.9% utter crap, will end up paying $.25 more per month so that they can keep a steady drip of “opiate of the masses” coursing through their over-worked, under-nourished minds long enough to get them through the evening meal and into the sweet release of sleep without having to fully realize the hopelessness and injustice of their situation.
Cable is absolutely useless. I haven’t had it for ten years, so maybe I’m missing a lot of great stuff. But I very very seriously doubt it. In fact, I think the exact opposite is true.
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You said it sister!!
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holy cow! Three times, apparently. What a jerk I am. lol
I was befuddled by the new code submitter thing.
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According to the article on the AP site, a Time says Viacom wants a “22% – 36%” increase. It also says that Viacom gets ad revenues from online rebroadcasts that it reportedly doesn’t share with Time.
This is just one more reason why I only have cable for local channels, & why I get my TCR & TDS from itunes. Yes, I pay, but it’s on my computer, & I get the shows I want w/out paying $60/mo. for dreck. I wouldn’t get to watch it till the next day even with cable b/c I’m asleep by 11:30.
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Ok, so here’s the thing – Viacom says that the numbers are in the “low double digits”. So someone’s lying. And both companies are being bullheaded.
I understand that the economy’s bad, but what they don’t understand is that I can watch most of the Viacom’s shows, for free, online. I don’t *need* Time Warner. They just haven’t gotten it through their thick heads.
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But that’s just it. Viacom’s shows can be viewed online and they receive ad revenue for that. Why do they need to charge Time Warner more to air their shows? I’m not defending TW’s actions here either. Both are behaving like greedy pigs in my opinion and if my husband hadn’t upgraded our cable over the summer which locked us in with TW for two years, we’d be cancelling our cable service altogether. We just don’t want to have to pay a large penalty to do that. *sigh*
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I just hope this is a false alarm. Viacom shouldn’t be demanding such outrageous fees and Time Warner should not cave in to simply dropping these channels. If they were “adults,” both parties would be able to find a compromise.
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I just called both Time Warner (212-358-0900) and Viacom (212-258-6000, ask the switchboard for Phillipe Dauman (pronounced doh-mon) and they’ll put you directly through to his poor Admin. Asst.). Time Warner claims that as of 12:01am Viacom will not allow them to broadcast their programs and Viacom claims that Time Warner will not come to the table to negotiate (sound familiar?!) so they “have no choice” but to pull their programs when the contract is up at 12:00am. I told both of them that I’d cancel my service and neither would be getting my money any more if the blackout happens.
Viacom, especially, didn’t seem to be getting too many calls, so it could be really important to call and let them know they’d be losing subscribers (and their money) if they didn’t get their act together, or at least continue to allow Time Warner to broadcast their programs while continuing to try to negotiate.
This is completely infuriating, and as barenjager pointed out, the continued epitome of greed by Big Corp of America to ignore the strains of the times on their subscribers/constituents and try to squeeze out any last penny they can get.
I’m trying right now not to picture the stupid big cars their execs probably drive to work with, the green fees they probably charge back to the company as a “client expense”, and all the other “necessities” they just can’t live without that they’re asking US to continue to pay for. I’m taking three deep breaths and trying to continue on with my morning without it getting really unpleasant.
And then I’m going to call Time Warner and Mr. Dauman’s office at Viacom again. It may be naive to think that every call counts. But I can’t just do nothing. Other than hope it’s just a big stupid power-play bluff.
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Huge apologies for double-posting, but I thought it was interesting that the ’800′ number listed above for Time Warner now has a recording apologizing for not being able to take calls due to “technical difficulties” (yeah, right!), and both the ’212′ number listed in the video for Time Warner and my local ’718′ number now give either a busy signal, as if they’re being flooded with calls, or – if you do manage to get through – have some lame pre-recorded message about trying to negotiate fairly with “MTV Networks” over excessive fees.
recaptcha: eagle success. I certainly hope so!!
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Okay done with Viacom call
Took about 8 minutes to get to Rosemary in Mr. Dauman’s office. She was very cordial as I was sympathetic to her plight (they are going to get a lot of calls today), politely wished her a Happy New Year and let her know that frankly both Viacom & Time Warner look bad on this one. I also mentioned how this potential interruption of service is going to hurt all the positive publicity gets from the NFZ because DB won’t be able to watch TCR on TWC (that couldn’t hurt).
Like I’ve said be polite but be firm…don’t take it out on the poor assistants (they’re working stiffs like the rest of us, as freaked out by the economy as much as the next person) but let them know it’s their bosses who have upset you. They’ll put the message through just fine ;-)
Off to call TWC now
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We’ve already been through this in the UK. Trust me, it’s awful for Colbert fans. If you don’t have FX over here, you have no access to Stephen at all, as we can no longer view videos on the Colbert Nation website. Good luck, America and best wishes. You’ll need it.
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Okay different Time Warner number
212-484-8198
This is the executive office for Time Warner the parent company of TWC. I got a machine but I asked that my message be left for Jeff Bewkes, the head of Time Warner. If you get a person ask for Jeff Bewkes or his assistant (since I talked to a machine I don’t have an assistant’s name for you to address pleasantly but firmly, sorry)
Gist of message left is as Jeff Bewkes is big boss of parent company of TWC he should act to settle this quickly and not on the back of the consumer with rate increases and/or channel dropping…it’s bosses like him *and* Dauman who do not look good to the public especially in these dicey economic times.
Call went through very fast.
Another option is to call the switchboard of Time Warner at 212-484-8000 and they’ll connect you to the 212-484-8198 number for Bewkes office…takes a little longer but works okay)
Go get em Zoners!
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It’s about greed pure and simple, the media giants are idiots cause the viewing trend is away from cable and towards the computer, this blackout will only increase that traffic. When TV goes digital in Feb you won’t need cable for reception anymore (w/ a converter box it’s as clear as cable) and most of the great shows are either online or (with a little patience) on dvd. They are hanging themselves.
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I suppose this is probably the only time I’d say I’m lucky to have Comcast, which I abhor, as I won’t be affected by this. But I feel for everyone who will be affected by this. Why are these two mega-corporations punishing the consumers when the consumers aren’t even anywhere in this equation? This reeks of the writers’ strike and continues to reflect corporations’ obsessions with money, greed, and power, with little or no regard for regular folks like you and me. This has nothing to do with us and everything to do with nitpicking and power struggling on such a level of childishness that I believe both of these companies should probably revert back to pre-school. There’s a reason why Everything I Ever Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten was such a success. These folks might do right by reading it again…and having a snack time and an afternoon nap everyday.
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I dont like Comcast either, but with no other alternatives in my area, we are at their mercy. I hate their attempt to monopolize everything…
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I just left a message at Time Warner expressing our displeasure, and hopes that they could come back to the table. I said I was calling on behalf of CobertNation.
I also called Phillippe Dauman’s office (pronounced dow mon, accent on the dow), and talked with Rosemarie. She was very nice. I told her to ask Mr. Dauman to please get back to the table, and if he needed some pointers on negotiating, he should watch his own shows and to watch Stephen’s show from January 7 with Andrew Young. She said she would relay the message. I wished her a Happy New Year, and she said the same.
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hmmm. after sleeping on this, I do wish they’d fix it up. however, getting worked up over television channels doesn’t seem that necessary for me. the family gets TWC here at home, but I don’t even watch any TV during the breaks. both sides are big corporations who can probably absorb this, so it’s not a humanitarian issue.
hope they resolve this quickly, though, or they’ll look quite foolish.
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All i have to say is:
nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!
:’(
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I am seriously considering canceling TWC.I love cable, honestly, but most of it is “Hmmm, I’m bored, let’s see what’s on”, with a side of shows I actually like that I can view elsewhere. If this isn’t resolved soon, I’m canceling.
Anyway, I’m going to call both TWC and Viacom. Both sides are acting out of greed, and it is deplorable.
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Here’s an idea from a poster on Niki’s site, call the FCC/Congress and demand an END to the unfair cable monopolies, demand unbundled services and competition in urban markets, TimeWarner/Viacom will change their tune fast!
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vigwig that sounds like something Freepress.net could help with
http://www.freepress.net/
captcha: duties Absurd
as in the duties I have to tackle on New Year’s Eve day are Absurd (very appropo)
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Thanks WhyweWatch, I’m a supporter of their efforts on the net neutrality issue. Unfettered media is a huge civil right and necessary to our republic, it’s more than tv shows, it’s about control of the airwaves and access which is as basic as it gets.
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I tried calling the Viacom number. After waiting on hold for at least 20 minutes I finally got a human. I told her that I wanted to complain about the black out of Viacom stations on Time Warner. She literally heard those words and flipped a switch. Suddenly I was listening to a canned statement about how Time Warner was horrible. This was not what I wanted. I left a message at the end, but doubt anyone will listen.
I am trying to get the word out to people on Twitter (@TheAngelForever). I am asking people who are upset with this fiasco to use #GreedyViacom in their Tweets so everyone can see the information together.
I know that Time Warner is no angel, but this is unreal and unfair during hard economic times.
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Is Viacom being reasonable? I think our old buddy Ted can answer that question:
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVuqVW4rq-o
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About 5 hours until the blackout and I can’t be angrier!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! South Park is the last show before the blackout and there is a marathon on of it. Last chance to see this show for possibly a while. Eventually the greedy ceo’s of viacom and twc will realize they are losing money and when they can’t afford to buy their 20th ferrari they will work out a deal.
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I’ve always hated having Comcast, but I’d be furious if I had Time Warner. It’s ridiculous that these jerks can’t come up with a deal. Pulling Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, etc. doesn’t do any good for anyone, as almost everyone else has said. TW loses subscribers and Viacom loses viewers. I hope they don’t pull the shows on the internet for TW online subscribers. Why is it that the heads of almost every major company are arrogant jerks?
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