MOUNT VERNON — Time Warner Cable said Thursday night its customers would not go without network programming even if Sinclair Broadcast Group pulls the plug on FOX and ABC signals tonight when the contract between the two media groups expire at 11:59 p.m.
“Time Warner is working hard to reach a long-term agreement with Sinclair Broadcasting. If Sinclair refuses Time Warner Cable’s offers and requires the company to cease carrying its signal, Time Warner Cable will continue to provide all available Big 4 (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX) network programming to its customers,” Time Warner stated in a press release Thursday night.
Sinclair announced on Tuesday negotiations came to a standstill because Time Warner refused to continue after Sinclair offered an increase in fees to Time Warner that was “just 10 cents per subscriber.”
Since then, Time Warner vehemently disputed the information released by Sinclair stating the cable company was continuing to work out a deal with Sinclair.
“We simply do not understand why Time Warner insists on being treated better than its competition,” stated Barry Faber, Sinclair’s executive vice president and general counsel, “rather than accepting our equitable proposal to provide them equivalent or better pricing than is paid by their competition.”
“We want our customers to remember that we’re fighting hard to contain the rising costs of broadcast programming,” said Rob Marcus, president and chief operating officer for Time Warner. “We are also still working to reach a long-term agreement with Sinclair.”
Jeff Ortega, spokesperson for Time Warner Cable, told the News on Thursday the cable giant has a deal in place with FOX to provide network programming in the event Sinclair creates a blackout.
According to its press release, Time Warner has a similar deal with ABC.
Time Warner serves 4 million customers who receive local broadcast stations provided through Sinclair.
