I want my MTV! That’s what Park Slopers are saying to Time Warner Cable who discontinued some of the area’s most popular children’s and adult programming, which happens to be provided by Viacom (which owns MTV).
I was just over at the Time Warner Cable website and they’re saying that the two companies have reached an agreement "in principle."
TWC says to "ignore incorrect Viacom/MTV ads" that were in newspapers today and yesterday. Time Warner Cable and Viacom have reached agreement for continued carriage of 19 of Viacom’s MTV Networks, with no interruption for Time Warner Cable customers. They are calling them false ads. The ads, which wrongly stated that Viacom had pulled programming from Time Warner Cable, ran in New York, Cleveland, Orlando, Dallas, and Raleigh
Sounds like the programming isn’t back yet but it will be in the next few days—once they are able to finalize negotiations.
Here’s the press release from the Time Warner Cable’s website:
Time Warner Cable (NYSE:TWC) and Viacom (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B) jointly announced this morning that they have reached an agreement in principle to renew carriage for Viacom’s MTV Networks. The companies expect to finalize the details of the agreement over the next several days.
Glenn Britt, President and CEO of Time Warner Cable said, "We are pleased that our customers will continue to be able to watch the programming they enjoy on MTV Networks. We are sorry they had to endure a day of public disagreement as we worked through this negotiation."
Philippe Dauman, President and CEO of Viacom said, "We’ve been partners with Time Warner Cable for a long time, and we’re happy to be renewing that partnership for the benefit of their customers and our loyal viewers. It’s gratifying that we could reach an agreement that benefits not only our audiences but that is also in the best interest of both of our companies.
I think you may have misunderstood what was on the Park Slope Parents list. I haven’t read it in a while, but I went back to read it when I saw this on your site. I never saw a post from someone who said the channels had actually been pulled. Only that they were threatening to pull them. (And one person who expressed sympathy for people who had lost their access to these channels, who may have also misunderstood the situation.) Here in our home, my daughter has watched these channels daily this week. I was afraid that they would be pulled, but they never were. I did call my local Time Warner to complain, and suggested that, if they were pulled, they should give us all a substantial discount. The nice woman took my name and phone number and said that they were keeping a record of how many people called and making sure that they were subscribers (I am) so that they could show the main headquarters that they were getting real complaints. Eventually, they settled.