What happened to the CW network. Its say Obsolete channel!!!!

Tribune media (the owners of WPIX-DT aka - PIX11, CW11) is asking for 30 cents per month (less than a penny a day) in re-transmission fees for a channel you can receive over the air for free with an antenna. Times are tough, revenue is down, and Tribune needs money. Cablevision's response is, "You are asking WAY too much!!" If Tribune wanted you to have the channel, they could invoke must-carry (but then they wouldn't get paid for it).

In this case, Cablevision is looking out for you, the end user. I would think that if CV agrees to 30 cents per month per sub, it will raise the bar for other broadcast channels. When you factor in the facts that the other networks get better ratings, this fee would be used as a baseline for the other networks to ask for way more money. (If you are paying 30 cents for the CW, surely you'd pay $1.00 or more for CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, etc..) When you consider that your Basic Cable bill is $18.00 or so, it's plausible that you could be paying close to $30 if CV had to pay similar (or greater) retransmission fees for broadcast channels.

CV pulled the channel, and the guide data was updated accordingly. Since your cable system no longer carries the channel, it is obsolete.

For me? I use rabbit ears and a ChannelMaster D2A converter box to receive CW11 (along with a subscription to schedulesdirect), This, and AntennaTV on my RTV....


Cheers!
-Doug
Edited by dstoffa - 9/20/12 at 5:22pm

Damn- almost spit out my coffee when I read this!
Cablevision/the Dolans only look out for themselves- period, that will never change!
We (CV customers) just happen to be the incidental beneficiary this time because CV would certainly raise the rates (again) if they had to pay for The CW and they know they'd get grief from their already cranky customers. That's the only reason they're "looking out for us"- and they don't want to set a precedent for the other OTA networks to demand payment for carriage too.

Saying "Cablevision is looking out for you" is like saying- the fox is guarding the chicken coup from coyotes!

Agreed. But asking for an arm and a leg in re-transmission fees for OTA is simply ludicrous on Tribune's part. While I agree the Dolan's are usually only looking out for themselves and their shareholder's bottom line, this is one of the few times I can actually side with them. At least I can watch the Giants tonight on my rabbit ears or NFL Network...

I should revise my post to read, "CV is looking out for you, in this case."

Can you imagine CV having to raise your cable bill by $10 per month on the excuse that CBS, NBC, FOX, ABC, MyN, PIX, and PBS have asked for dollars per month in retransmission fees? Insane.... I wouldn't know who to blame more... I know... the greedy ba$tids.


Cheers!
-Doug

It's a tough call- but in the end IMO The CW already gets compensation from Cablevision via increased subscriber base which directly relates to the fees they charge for commercial time.
I don't know what The CW's current subscriber base is- but I think it would be substantially diminished by cutting out 1-2 million Cablevision households. If I was advertising on The CW- I would demand a substantial discount till this dispute is over.

BTW, the stations are owned by Tribune Broadcasting, not Tribune Media Services that provides our guide data.

The CW isn't asking for compensation, Tribune Broadcasting is.

Fixed....
It's still off the air on Cablevision no matter what you call it....