A Turner Broadcasting blackout of TBS and other...
A Turner Broadcasting blackout of TBS and other networks for Cable One customers just before the Major League Baseball playoffs is “a vindictive spasm of power,” said the American Cable Association in a news release Thursday (http://bit.ly/157BzEl). Turner “deauthorized” TBS,…
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TNT and Cartoon Network in retaliation for Cable One’s dropping CNN, CNN Espanol, Headline News, TCM, TruTV and Boomerang during unsuccessful negotiations, said CableOne on its website (http://bit.ly/GDkoBU). Turner said on its website (http://bit.ly/19VrRV6) that it had “worked diligently with Cable One to come to a resolution, even offering an extension” that expired Monday. Turner’s blocking of its three most popular channels is a “brazen example of the withholding of marquee sports programming from consumers as punishment when a cable operator refuses to force its subscribers to pay for expensive, unpopular and low-rated programming,” said ACA in its release, urging Turner to end the blackout. ACA said it’s contacting lawmakers and regulators, using the CableOne/Turner kerfuffle as an example of why “the bundling issue” needs to be addressed. “This situation illustrates yet one more time how programmers refuse to let cable operators develop packages that are tailored to their consumers’ preferences,” said ACA.