from www.tvweek.com – Time Warner Cable is offering eight new porn channels on its lineup just days after agreeing to boost the fees it pays to Walt Disney Co., prompting the New York Post to ask whether the two items are related.
The addition of the channels–with shows such as “Penthouse on Demand”–is unrelated to the Disney deal, according to a Time Warner Cable spokesman.
The agreement calls for Time Warner Cable to pay Disney 50 cents per subscriber each month for the right to carry ABC’s broadcast stations, whereas previously it paid nothing, the story says.
While some of those costs will be passed on to customers through rate increases, Time Warner Cable needs to find a way to make up the rest of the difference or else be prepared for lower profits, the article points out.
Time Warner Cable sent out an alert to customers letting them know about the new channels: “You may need to adjust your parental control settings,” the mailing said, according to the article.
from www.nypost.com – Beauty is hanging out with some strange beasts these days.
Time Warner Cable decided to offer eight new pornography channels — only days after agreeing to boost the fees it pays to Snow White’s bosses at Disney.
But industry buzz that the high-revenue porn programs featuring stars like Jenna Jameson were added to the cable company’s lineup to help finance its Disney deal is nothing but a fairy tale, TW Cable executives insist.
TW Cable, like other cable companies, is being squeezed by the four broadcast networks, which want bigger fees for the right to carry their programming.
Earlier this month, it cut a deal agreeing to pay 50 cents per subscriber, per month, for the right to carry Disney’s ABC broadcast stations. It had previously paid Disney nothing.
In addition, TW Cable will increase the fees it pays to offer cable channels operated by Disney.
Speculation had been running wild about how TW Cable would pay for Disney’s rich new deal.
It will cost the cable company — which has more than 2 million subscribers in the New York area and a total of more than 12.5 million nationally — some serious bucks.
The other broadcast networks — Fox, NBC and CBS — are also demanding that cable companies cough up between 50 cents to $1 per subscriber, per month.
Some of the costs related to the broadcast-retransmission fees will be passed on to customers in the form of rate increases.
“It’s the single biggest contributing factor to raising cable bills,” said Time Warner Cable spokesman Alex Dudley, referring not only to the new costs for broadcast networks, but also to higher fees for ABC cable channels, such as ESPN.
But not all of those costs will be passed on — which means that TW Cable has to make up the difference or face lower profits, industry sources said.
TW Cable spokesman Alex Dudley insists that it’s nothing but a coincidence that it’s suddenly offering the new porn channels, with programs like “Manhandle on Demand” and “Penthouse on Demand.”
Asked about the remarkable coincidence in timing, he insisted, “The two are unrelated.”
And he said in a deadpan voice, “We’re always adding a variety of content that we think our subscribers will enjoy.”
To keep children from tuning in to its latest offerings, Time Warner Cable alerted its customers in a recent mailing to the new adult channels.
“You may need to adjust your parental control settings,” the mailing said.