CBS spat with Time Warner Cable extends outage to network's official iPad, iPhone apps

Posted:
in iPad edited January 2014
A contract dispute between CBS and Time Warner Cable has prevented millions of customers not only from viewing CBS channels on their television set, but also through the network's official applications for iPad and iPhone.

CBS


The dispute caused Time Warner to block CBS and Showtime networks over the weekend. CBS responded in kind, and blocked Time Warner Cable Internet subscribers from streaming its programming from its website.

But that IP ban also extends to the official iOS applications from CBS. Even though CBS is available free over the air, Time Warner customers who attempt to stream shows through the CBS application for iOS are presented with a video urging them to call their cable provider and side with the network.

"Time Warner Cable has dropped CBS," a 45-second video airing in place of content proclaims. "That means no 'Under the Dome,' no 'Big Brother,' no 'NCIS,' no NFL, or PGA Championship, or US Open Tennis. No 'Big Bang Theory,' no '60 Minutes.' Say no to Time Warner Cable."

The outage also extends to Showtime, which includes the original series "Dexter," "Ray Donovan," and "Homeland." And it includes Bright House Networks, a major regional cable operator that partners with Time Warner.

The current blackout is said to affect about 3 million Time Warner Cable customers in major markets including New York City, Los Angeles, Boston and Dallas. Among the events blocked was Tiger Woods' commanding victory at the Bridgestone Invitational.

In addition, the start of National Football League preseason football is this week, and CBS owns the broadcast rights to the league's American Football Conference teams, such as the New England Patriots and New York Jets.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 30
    msuberlymsuberly Posts: 234member
    Screw cable and satellite TV. My antenna works better than both.
  • Reply 2 of 30
    That CBS is blocking TimeWarner internet customers from accessing their website seems to flaunt the spirit of Net Neutrality. Not all TW customers actually subscribe to TV programming, some only subscribe to internet. To suggest that an ISP is responsible for some kind of payment to a content provider is absurd, and contrary to the way the internet has been working since inception. Does CBS block access from .edu IP addresses, unless the institution pays a fee? I think not. This is absolutely wrong of CBS. They think they're being clever, but they are acting unethically and possibly illegally, IMO.
  • Reply 3 of 30

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by msuberly View Post



    Screw cable and satellite TV. My antenna works better than both.


    Completely irrelevant.  If you were a TimeWarner customer, CBS would be trying to block your antenna from working too.  But your neighbor who gets internet through a phone company DSL is allowed to watch CBS, even if they have TimeWarner television service.  CBS is discriminating based upon your ISP, and that should be illegal.


     


    It's mafia-like in this respect.  It's like your auto mechanic refusing to service your vehicle because you bought gas from Chevron instead of Citgo. Or your grocery store refusing you entry because you dared to shop at Walmart last week.


     


    PS: I won't do business with TimeWarner either, and I too have a nifty antenna that works.  But now I'm going to BOYCOTT CBS because of their action.  Good bye, advertisers.

  • Reply 4 of 30
    ronboronbo Posts: 669member
    Wow. NFL is already starting? As a Dallas fan... I hadn't been exactly counting the days :)
  • Reply 5 of 30
    herbapouherbapou Posts: 2,228member


    I wonder how more time its going to take for the TV and Movie industry and the Cable industry before they realize they are screwed just like the music guys were back in early 2000's.


     


    Physical media sales are down, video rental stores are almost all closed, lots of blockbusters are not making there cost at Theaters. Some of the renting went to cable on demand and other internet offering, but the size of bittorrent movies and TV shows is no longer an issue for home bandwidth.


     


    Cable is getting competition from DSL over lived TV. People are getting used to stream pre-recorded content from the internet instead of watching live TV.


     


    That market is going straigh to a major crisis.

  • Reply 6 of 30
    al_bundyal_bundy Posts: 1,525member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by TeaEarleGreyHot View Post



    That CBS is blocking TimeWarner internet customers from accessing their website seems to flaunt the spirit of Net Neutrality. Not all TW customers actually subscribe to TV programming, some only subscribe to internet. To suggest that an ISP is responsible for some kind of payment to a content provider is absurd, and contrary to the way the internet has been working since inception. Does CBS block access from .edu IP addresses, unless the institution pays a fee? I think not. This is absolutely wrong of CBS. They think they're being clever, but they are acting unethically and possibly illegally, IMO.


    supposedly ESPN has been doing just this since the 90's

  • Reply 7 of 30
    al_bundyal_bundy Posts: 1,525member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by herbapou View Post


    I wonder how more time its going to take for the TV and Movie industry and the Cable industry before they realize they are screwed just like the music guys were back in early 2000's.


     


    Physical media sales are down, video rental stores are almost all closed, lots of blockbusters are not making there cost at Theaters. Some of the renting went to cable on demand and other internet offering, but the size of bittorrent movies and TV shows is no longer an issue for home bandwidth.


     


    Cable is getting competition from DSL over lived TV. People are getting used to stream pre-recorded content from the internet instead of watching live TV.


     


    That market is going straigh to a major crisis.



    completely different business models


    music was always buy each album, then the greatest hits, etc


    cable TV is paying for lots of content to watch only what you want


     


    if you only pay for internet and pay for netflix and the other services you are close to the cost of a cable TV sub in the end

  • Reply 8 of 30
    This is all a prelude.

    One of these days, CBS is going to get bought out by TW (a la NBC-Comcast, and ABC-Disney).
  • Reply 9 of 30
    Suck it, TWC. I've got a large roof antenna on a tall mast pointed directly towards midtown Manhattan and the signal strength is close to 100%. I get dozens of channels including CBS 2.1 and 2.2. I always knew it would come in handy after all these years I've had TWC. I checked to see what TWC had in CBS's place and they were showing STARZ Kids channel. No thanks. Now I'll just have to see if I can get some discount from TWC for taking CBS away. No point in paying for something they're not giving me.
  • Reply 10 of 30
    bdkennedy1bdkennedy1 Posts: 1,459member
    Don't forget to call Time Warner and tell them you want compensation for the outage.
  • Reply 11 of 30
    echosonicechosonic Posts: 462member
    Why would anybody give a shit aout watching CBS? I dont understand this. Do any of the customers care?
  • Reply 12 of 30

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by echosonic View Post



    Why would anybody give a shit aout watching CBS? I dont understand this. Do any of the customers care?


    They do have the only three shows I watch on network TV: Big Bang Theory, Person of Interest, and Elementary.


     


    But the Fall season hasn't started yet.....image

  • Reply 13 of 30
    jd_in_sbjd_in_sb Posts: 1,600member
    I am all for Time Warner but they should lower their rate now in the affected markets since their costs just went down without having to pay for CBS.
  • Reply 14 of 30


    Just another argument for


    1) turning cable into a big dumb pipe


    2) bypassing both cable and network companies and go straight to the content producers on a per show basis


     


    Netflix, iTunes, Amazon seem to be the likely players here, with Netflix being the rogue outsider.


     


    I'm moving up to F.O. 25mbps next month (and 25mpbs upstream... may have to move to network backups;-) ),   at 20mbps, other than some skitchy sites, NetFlix, AppleTV and OTA... I'm doing okay.  25mbps and a better ISP (i hope... it appears I'll be 3 hops closer to the 'core') will be gravy.

  • Reply 15 of 30
    gqbgqb Posts: 1,934member
    msuberly wrote: »
    Screw cable and satellite TV. My antenna works better than both.
    Unfortunately, mine doesn't
  • Reply 16 of 30
    mac_128mac_128 Posts: 3,454member
    That CBS is blocking TimeWarner internet customers from accessing their website seems to flaunt the spirit of Net Neutrality. Not all TW customers actually subscribe to TV programming, some only subscribe to internet. To suggest that an ISP is responsible for some kind of payment to a content provider is absurd, and contrary to the way the internet has been working since inception. Does CBS block access from .edu IP addresses, unless the institution pays a fee? I think not. This is absolutely wrong of CBS. They think they're being clever, but they are acting unethically and possibly illegally, IMO.
    Yes. Agree 100 percent. I would expect the Feds should look into this.

    I have DirecTV and subscribe to all the CBS packages. My Internet is through TW, as that is the only option I have for high speed Internet in my area. So, I'm paying a premium to CBS for their programming on DirecTV, but can't access any of it online because I am forced to subscribe to TW for my ISP? My ISP has nothing to do with my programming packages, and I did have a choice for that and chose DirecTV, yet I'm still being punished?

    The reality is, most people who subscribe to TW cable likely don't stream much if any of their programming over the internet.

    I can see CBS' quandary ... as the big networks lose market share, they run the risk of pushing more users onto the Internet permanently with a move like this as people discover it as a viable option. But this is just wrong on so many levels.
  • Reply 17 of 30
    Content creators are getting desperate and this clash, I expect, is one of many epic battles on the horizon. Media conglomerates are desperate to control content entirely, lest the end up like their pathetic music label partners. Their strangle-hold on content, arbitrary restrictions and excessive double-dipping is only going to get worse because their loosing their grip on the ultimate delivery system, the internet. Like the most manic heroin addict, big media has become far to addicted to ad revenue and would implode fantastically if it were ever turned off.

    And what should the viewers really worry about? Not seeing their favorite CBS sitcom? No, they should be more concerned with the fact that big media continues to marginalize quality. Sure there are some great shows, e.g. Homeland. But how many times have you seen a great show run into the ground because of network marginalization? How many crappy spin-offs is Disney going to fleece from Pixar's great library? So far they have three, but you can bet there are more to come. Their not interested in making good content. Their not interested in making the world a better place. Their not interested in what you think. They're only interested in ad revenue and will use any method to secure it. Just like a manic heroin addict.

    Luckily, the internet cannot be cornered so easily. More and more content will make it's way to consumers exclusively via the internet, while cable companies will become primarily internet providers. Bye, bye cable. Bye, bye old-fashioned telephone. I only hope independent content creators and producers will replace big media, and relegate big media to ad pimp status. It's easier than ever to make great content with cheap computers, and cheap video equipment. Jay Z and Beyonce did it, so what's stopping others from doing the same?

    What do consumers want? They want what they want, when they want it. Why should we allow big media interfere with that, just so they can get their "20%" heroin fix? Why shouldn't we demand more from cable and networks? Why should they get to double-dip while we bear the burden?

    Cable & Networks are two petulant children that both deserver to be booted from the game. Let's help them out.


  • Reply 18 of 30
    Strangely, I'm blocked from watching CBS shows via their app as a Time Warner Cable customer, but our local CBS affiliate in Milwaukee is not owned by CBS and is not blacked out. I don't really care that much about it- but if I have to take a side, I'll side with the cable company. These ever increasing carraige fees are the reason pay TV keeps getting more and more expensive.
  • Reply 19 of 30
    macbook promacbook pro Posts: 1,605member
    Completely irrelevant.  If you were a TimeWarner customer, CBS would be trying to block your antenna from working too.  But your neighbor who gets internet through a phone company DSL is allowed to watch CBS, even if they have TimeWarner television service.  CBS is discriminating based upon your ISP, and that should be illegal.

    It's mafia-like in this respect.  It's like your auto mechanic refusing to service your vehicle because you bought gas from Chevron instead of Citgo. Or your grocery store refusing you entry because you dared to shop at Walmart last week.

    PS: I won't do business with TimeWarner either, and I too have a nifty antenna that works.  But now I'm going to BOYCOTT CBS because of their action.  Good bye, advertisers.


    Your comment is irrelevant to his comment. He was simply expressing a sentiment.

    al_bundy wrote: »
    completely different business models
    music was always buy each album, then the greatest hits, etc
    cable TV is paying for lots of content to watch only what you want

    if you only pay for internet and pay for netflix and the other services you are close to the cost of a cable TV sub in the end

    Cord Cutting:
    • $79/year Amazon Prime
    • $7.99/month Hulu Plus
    • $7.99/month Netflix
    • $46/month AT&T Internet (non-bundled) for Elite Internet (6mbps)


    AT&T
    • $49 new activation
    • $64/month for U200 and Elite Internet (6mbps)
    • $10/month extra receiver
    • $10/month HD channels
    • $56/month increase after 12 months
  • Reply 20 of 30
    boeyc15boeyc15 Posts: 986member
    IMO- this book sums up the industry pretty well.

    Captive Audience: The Telecom Industry and Monopoly Power in the New Gilded Age by Susan Crawford. She brings up things like natural monopoly, common carrier, public interest... stuff kind of left out of the discussion on... 'cable'!.


    http://www.amazon.com/Captive-Audience-Telecom-Industry-Monopoly/dp/0300153139/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top


    Author interview about the book on Cspan book tv
    http://www.booktv.org/Program/14736/After+Words+Susan+Crawford+Captive+Audience+The+Telecom+Industry+and+Monopoly+Power+in+the+New+Gilded+Age+hosted+by+Andrew+Blum+Wired+Magazine.aspx

    .

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