The NY Times reports that Time Warner Cable has dropped LIN TV from their programming in markets including Buffalo, NY, Green Bay, WI and Austin, TX . LIN TV operates the major CBS and CW affiliates (along with a host of other stations), which includes the Buffalo Bills NFL games. In other words, Time Warner is dropping a major network television station. For what?
Time Warner bristled at the prospect of paying for material “that’s available over the air for free — and now available online for free,” said Alexander Dudley, a company spokesman.
That’s right, Time Warner no longer wants to have to pay money for content that is by and large available for free, whether over the air or online. CBS posts many of its top shows online (although not all of them, sadly), and local news coverage is also available online (WIVB is one of the local CBS affiliate). Time Warner even went so far as to create a video instructing customers on how to get their favorite shows online.
“Simply go to the network’s Web site and choose your favorite program,” the video continued, recognizing that almost all prime-time programs are now streamed online within a day of their TV premiere. Some — but not most — of the sporting events and local newscasts are also available online.
What I find interesting is that Time Warner has no reserves about sending it’s customers online; they also sell broadband internet access, and ostenisbly don’t care, as far as the consumer is concerned, whether the content is consumed via cable TV or over broadband Internet, as long as they aren’t paying for stuff via one medium that is free in the other. And that makes perfect sense. What this points to is a future model where content is delivered via the most inexpensive means possible, and as directly as possible to the consumer. This is similar to the model that NPR is adopting by distributing all their content online and via podcast, and trust me, their affiliate stations, that pay money for that very same content, aren’t happy about it.
Proportionate Response?
In the mean time, LIN TV is fighting back; in a letter to viewers, they explain the situation and encourage their audience to sign up with other television providers, such as DISH, AT&T or Verizon FiOS.
I’m not well-versed (yet) on the economics here, but it would seem to me that LIN TV should be pursuing a more direct-to-consumer strategy here. Instead of directing viewers to other networks, essentially handing over their customers to a third-party, why not invest in building out a internet presence that lets viewers get the shows they want online?
If you ask me, Time Warner is the one that is right here; other than the content playing live on air, there’s no reason for them to pay for something that is free elsewhere. LIN TV should be looking at how they can build out an online presence to go directly to the consumer; in just a few years, that is all there will be anyhow.
UPDATE: This is bigger than just Buffalo and CBS; LIN TV apparently operates affiliate stations from various different networks in many different US cities.
- Austin, TX: saying goodbye to NBC, The Office.
- A detailed list of all the markets LIN TV serves.
- Buffalo Bills fans are missing their team.
- Coverage from local Buffalo news.
FREE YOURSELVES FROM THE SHACKLES OF THE TELEVISION NETWORKS. JOIN US ONLINE! THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED!
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
CableTechTalk 10.07.08 at 1:03 pm
Boy, you seem to have the facts about this completely backwards. The NY Times article does not say Time Warner dropped LIN TV. In fact, LIN pulled their signals from the Time Warner systems.
Greg 10.07.08 at 2:47 pm
I took it as implied from the article that TW dropped LIN TV, since the article states that in place of their channels, they were directing viewers to a website with instructions on how to view content online; whether TW or LIN TV ended the negotionations is a side point.