Time Warner pulls NFL Network in dispute
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Time Warner has stopped carrying the NFL Network in some of the largest media markets, just weeks before it is scheduled to air its first live NFL game.
The cutoff occurred on September 16 at 2:54 am Eastern time and affected tens of millions of subscribers.
It cited a dispute over how to carry the channel. TWC wants to carry the service on a separate sports tier, which costs viewers several dollars more a month. The NFL wants its channel on, at the very least, an expanded digital tier. It would make the channel available to anyone with a digital converter.
Originally, TWC pulled the service on August 1 from viewers who watched NFLN on Comcast and Adelphia. (TWC and Comcast made a successful joint bid for the bankrupt cable operator.) The Federal Communications Commission ordered TWC to restore the service because it did not give viewers 30 days notice as required by law. On September 4, TWC agreed to another extension until September 15. When negotiations with the NFL continued to fail, TWC went ahead and pulled the plug.
During this time, the NFL Network urged TWC watchers to call a toll-free 866 number, asking TWC to keep the channel in the lineup. In the last days, viewers were asked to call "again and again." However, these efforts failed.
Unless an agreement is reached by the end of November, TWC viewers will miss the first live broadcast of the NFL on NFL Network, the Denver Broncos at the Kansas City Chiefs on Thanksgiving night.
Source
Date
Tue 09/19/06, 7:23 am EST
