USA TODAY: With the CBS blackout entering its third week, calls for federal regulators’ intervention and a quick settlement between the network and Time Warner Cable are growing louder as the NFL season gets underway.
U.S. Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, both California Democrats, sent a letter to the companies Monday, urging both parties to agree on a contract. “The status quo is unfair to the millions of your customers who are caught in the middle of your dispute, and we strongly encourage both sides to resolve it immediately,” they wrote to TWC CEO Glenn Britt and CBS CEO Leslie Moonves.
CBS and TWC are in the midst of a retransmission contract dispute, resulting in the blackout of the No. 1 prime-time network in New York, Los Angeles, Dallas and several smaller markets…. (more)
EDITOR: Our sympathies lie with the networks. The Cable Companies, as usual, are exploiting their public monopoly. They are in a position to charge the networks whatever they choose. In short, they can siphon off all of the networks’ wealth.
The solution is governmental regulation. It is time the avaricious Cable Companies be treated as we do other utilities, not only in their dealings with the networks but also with their customers.
