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KXAN back on Time Warner … who blinked?
After nearly a month off Time Warner Cable, KXAN returned to Austin’s biggest cable provider early Wednesday morning. Without notice, “The Today Show” beamed back into living rooms across Central Texas.
KXAN, an NBC station owned by Rhode Island-based LIN TV, had been off of Time Warner since Oct. 3, when negotiations between LIN, which owns 15 TV stations nationwide, and Time Warner broke down over LIN’s demand for retransmission payment for its signal.
“We’re very pleased with the outcome,” said KXAN general manager Eric Lassberg. “It provides what our original intent was, which was to receive fair market value.”
Specifically, LIN wanted “less than a penny a day per subscriber,” Lassberg said when the negotiations first broke down. That would have come to about $1 million a year for the 311,000 Time Warner subscribers in the Austin area. Time Warner insists it does not pay other local stations a per-subscriber fee to retransmit a free over-the-air signal and thus balked at LIN’s demand.
“We’re glad we’ve got KXAN back on,” said Stacy Schmitt, vice president of public affairs for Time Warner Central Texas. “We know it’s been an inconvenience, and we want to thank everyone for being patient.”
So who blinked? Did Time Warner pay or did KXAN cave? It’s not clear. A non-disclosure clause signed by both sides prevents terms of the new contract from being made public. It is likely that KXAN received some compensation for retransmission but probably not the per-subscriber fee originally requested.
After nonstop negotiations over the past few days, a deal affecting LIN’s stations nationwide was made late last night — a day before the beginning of the all-important November sweeps. Coincidence? Probably not. The sweeps help local stations set advertising rates for several months and help boost viewership of local news and network programming.
During the month KXAN was off Time Warner, ratings dropped off as much as 40 percent. Such a precipitous decline would also indicate lost revenue, although Lassberg insists the economic impact was not that great.
“We had some advertisers wanting lower investment levels, but we were able to work with them and re-negotiate,” Lassberg said. “It’s not just about flat rates but also about frequency the ads are played, so we were able to restructure the delivery in most cases. And since we felt this was a short-term situation for long-term prosperity, the impact was pretty much what we expected.”
KXAN’s local news took the biggest hit. According to Nielsen overnight ratings, the 6 p.m. newscast averaged a 5.7 rating during the week of Sept. 22 (before the blackout), compared with a 3.5 rating for the same newscast the week of Oct. 6, the first week after the station was dropped from Time Warner. (A rating point is one percent of 635,860 TV households in Central Texas.)
Time Warner says its customers did not flee during October, as some had predicted.
“We didn’t see anything out of the ordinary as far as disconnect,” Schmitt said.
Retransmission contracts with cable companies typically include ads and station promotions rather than cash payments to the stations. But with cable companies forking over large fees to carry signals from cable channels such as ESPN and TNT, local stations have been asking for money in recent negotiations.
Cable companies insist they would have to pass on such station payments to their subscribers, but local stations counter that cable companies already have such large profits that they wouldn’t have to charge customers more.
During KXAN’s absence from Time Warner, viewers could watch NBC programming online, over the air with an antenna or on satellite services such as DISH or DirecTV. About 65 percent of KXAN’s Austin audience comes from Time Warner (21 percent from satellite and 14 percent over-the-air).
In the early going, viewers tended to blame Time Warner, but increasingly the negatives turned toward KXAN. And as the days dragged into weeks in mid-October, viewers soured on both sides in online comments.
“Our family is getting tired of all this and may stop watching NBC and give up Time Warner,” wrote Mary Lou Morrison earlier this week.
Comments posted after KXAN was back on Time Warner on Wednesday morning included multiple shouts of “Who cares?” and more than a few shrugs of “I stopped watching them weeks ago.”
LIN and Suddenlink, a cable company that serves about 30,000 subscribers in Williamson County, had a similar contract dispute earlier this year. KXAN was dropped from that cable system from January through March, although Suddenlink replaced KXAN with an NBC station in Temple. The Federal Communication Commission frowns on such substitutions, because KXAN has an exclusive right to NBC programming, and is about to hand down a rule prohibiting it, which is why Time Warner substituted Starz Family Network for NBC in Austin.
LIN also owns TV stations in Buffalo, N.Y.; Columbus, Ohio; Dayton, Ohio; Fort Wayne, Ind.; Green Bay, Wis.; Indianapolis; Mobile, Ala.; Springfield, Mass.; Terre Haute, Ind.; and Toledo, Ohio.
Luckily for KXAN, the new contract was signed before NBC’s Nov. 16 “Sunday Night Football” game featuring the Dallas Cowboys. According to the Buffalo News, the LIN station there lost about $50,000 in ad revenue on Oct. 14, when the Buffalo Bills game was dropped from Time Warner.
Austin’s other local stations either have retransmission contracts in place or are close to signing them, according to Schmitt. But whether the deal with LIN has an impact on those negotiations remains to be seen.
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By Ken
October 30, 2008 1:31 PM | Link to this
For all of you who are blaming Time Warner Or KXAN and are threatening to switch to Uverse, I got news for you ATT is ten times worse. he customer service is a joke. I called wanting to drop cable internet and go with ATT's cheaper service. ATT said it would be a 200 service charge since I was with time warner already. I said let me think about it and will call you back if I want to proceed. I never called back and a week later an att tech is there wanting to install service and had a work order for it. I told them no I do not want service he said he would cancel it and he left. another week passes and another att tech shows up to install internet. Again I told the same story and he said he would cancel the request. A month later I get a bill for 577.00 for both service trips and the first month of internet service. I called att and spent over 3 hours trying to get this mess cleared. The lady finally told me that it was dismiss and do not worry about paying the amount that it was taken care of. Another month passes and I get a bill for 16 dollars which was the late fees incurred on the 577.00 that I was told was taking care of. COME ON ATT get your head out of your bum!. Time Warner = 15MB connection speeds compared to ATT 6MB speed. TiVO HD works well with Time warner and will work even better in a couple of weeks when they release the SDV boxes for free.
By austinights
October 30, 2008 11:28 AM | Link to this
I read the Bible during this whole debacle and came to realize we're all going to hell.
Just kidding. Tune in to the Longhorn game this weekend. Let's all rock!!!!
By Cable Customer
October 30, 2008 8:28 AM | Link to this
Those of you wanting credit from Time Warner -- you DO realize that you would only even possibly end up with maybe .75 for the missing channel? Take the $19.95 basic tier divided by 21 channels ends up being about 3 cents per day per channel (Doesn't mean they are CHARGING you 3 cents per channel, just an estimate). It's amazing - People call into TWC wanting Credit because they don't carry the NFL Network - wtf? Credit because TWC don't carry a specific channel? Give me a break. LIN-TV is EVIL -- Search it out over GOOGLE, you'll see who the bad guy is.
By Mike Littoris
October 29, 2008 9:19 PM | Link to this
I put up an antenna while KXAN was off of Time Warner. I put the antenna up on the Saturday that Sarah Palin was on SNL. I took my old unused Dish Network dish off the side of my house and used the dish mount as the mast for my new UHF antenna. Worked out great. I didn't have to drill any new holes in my house, there was already cable run from the old dish to my TV, and the actual dish made a great bird bath. Oh yea, SNL was pretty good too.
By see ya LIN-TV
October 29, 2008 8:19 PM | Link to this
See ya LIN-TV
No more of your ads for me
During the break I started watching NBC online
Soon not even TWC will see a dime.
By KXAN lied
October 29, 2008 7:17 PM | Link to this
I'm a Time Warner subscriber and plan on staying a subscriber. KXAN placed propaganda against TWC all over the place, costing thousands of dollars: radio, newspapers, websites, etc., and in every medium they placed Time Warner cpntact info (TW customer service) to voice complaints. KXAN never once posted a direct line to their own company to answer questions or hear complaints, they left it all in the hands of TWC. KXAN is the company that decided NOT to extend the transmission of their signal while in negotiations, leaving their viewers out in the cold! During this whole debacle I learned more about how LIN corp could care less about it's viewers and cares more about $$$. I will continue to go to NBC.com to watch the few shows I use to watch on KXAN. Shame on you KXAN!!
By WOW!!!
October 29, 2008 6:56 PM | Link to this
WOW!! Why so many BITTER people!!! Seriouly!!
By Larry
October 29, 2008 6:49 PM | Link to this
The partial title of the article "who blinked" says it all, but who cares. I dumped TW more than 3 years ago and don't miss their annual rate increases for less content and more money.
By Nicole
October 29, 2008 6:48 PM | Link to this
I blame Time-Warner for failure to get the deal done in time. I pay them to bring TV into our house. I don't care about their supplier issues and found it insulting the way TWC and KXAN aired their dirty luandry. To make it worse, they don't even explain what deal was struck. When calling Time-Warner during the last month to get some sort of refund for not providing a top 3 or 4 channel, they wouldn't do anything. They didn't care. They armed their customer "service" people with words to point blame to KXAN without caring about their customers. What I knew was that they failed to provide a basic service that I paid for -- bring TV to my house. Don't blame KXAN. I'm paying TWC to deal with this. So fix it or compensate me. Again, they didn't care. What ever happened to business ethics? If I had any loyalty to TWC -- is now gone forever. I'm moving over to Uverse. TWC had me in for their "price lock gaurantee" for two-years and a $150 fine for breaking it. Well, they breached the contract first. They can come collect in person if they try to claim it. What a horrible, horrible company.
By Bob
October 29, 2008 6:45 PM | Link to this
Miss cueless locals and amateur local ads? You have to be kidding. Never missed them. Congrats to TWC.
By austingeezer
October 29, 2008 6:03 PM | Link to this
Those bozos at 36 should be concentrading on going HD instead of warring with TWC.
By Leo
October 29, 2008 6:02 PM | Link to this
While KXAN was off I learned there are plenty of other channels on the cable. I'll try to work some of the NBC programming into my schedule as openings develop.
By Klaus
October 29, 2008 5:32 PM | Link to this
Could not care less: Antenna, hooked up to the DVD Player Antenna input, and I can watch both my BASIC TWC channels AND all over the air stuff. And dirt cheap!
By Dan
October 29, 2008 5:21 PM | Link to this
When KXAN staged a similar holdup against Suddenlink a few months back, we quit watching their local news programs and haven't regretted it a bit. What is frustrating, though, is that the agreements that end these petty turf wars are never made public. Maybe some good investigative reporting by a reputable news source would bring the answers to light.
By so be it
October 29, 2008 5:11 PM | Link to this
I cancelled my TWC last night and signed up with DishTV. Left them a couple of years ago. BIG mistake! DishTV is so much cheaper and I will be getting a lot more channels. When my TWC bill got to be $240.00 a month for 3 movie channels along with Road Runner and the phone , it was time to go!
And, I did miss KXAN. When you have bad weather, you cant beat Jim Spencer. Now, we have a fair and impartial new station back in Austin.
Check out the All Inclusive Package (everything and cant remember exact name of it? with DishTV and see how much less it is than TWC. You will be calling tomorrow also. TWC told me that if I dropped down to 1 regular box, dropped all of my movie channels and kept 3 hot plugs, my cable bill alone was going to be $120.00 plus a month. With DishTV, I am getting 500 channels for $112.00 a month, which includes 4 boxes.
Cant beat it! Bye Bye TWC!!!!
By Harold
October 29, 2008 4:29 PM | Link to this
LIN TV obviously caved. Time Warner clearly won. The timing is EVERYTHING. There was NO INCENTIVE for Time Warner to put KXAN back on before November sweeps that starts tomrrow. LIN TV obviously capitulated and probably just got some extra in-kind ad swaps that were probably a part of the original Time Warner offer. There are so many ways to receive network content that local affiliates are almost completely unnecessary. Five years ago, LIN TV could have won this battle EASY. Today, they are undercut by their network content providers and can't even hold out for a full month. This victor of this battle of greedy corporations is Time Warner.
By Alex
October 29, 2008 4:23 PM | Link to this
I enjoyed wathcing the movie channel and would prefer that in place of KXAN. After all, NBC shows were online.
By Jeff
October 29, 2008 3:37 PM | Link to this
When did KXAN go off of TWC? Nobody told me about this and since I don't watch their stuff, I never knew about it. I am glad they got it settled. Be a shame for me not to get something I don't watch.
By yup, kxan was not missed!
October 29, 2008 3:33 PM | Link to this
kxan came crawling back just like we knew they would...good for timewarner for sticking to their guns...I agree, the channel was not missed at all. Im still not gonna watch kxan...bring Michelle Valles back!!! then maybe i'll think about it!
By ray
October 29, 2008 3:29 PM | Link to this
Too late my appointment for Direct TV is set up....They are cheaper and have far better customer service.......
By keith
October 29, 2008 3:21 PM | Link to this
I can't believe that TWC actually blinked on this one and is going to pay these greedy bastages....the agreement will come out but they just want to make it look like neither side is gonna admit to being wrong, in other words KXAN/LIN won't admit to being greedy SOB's.....I actually enjoyed it not being around...sucks that it is coming back
By kxan was not missed!
October 29, 2008 3:20 PM | Link to this
kxan caved in, twc didnt need them...to tell the truth, the loss of the channel was realy no loss at all! Good for timewarner...way to make them squirm and beg to come back!
By Amanda
October 29, 2008 2:17 PM | Link to this
No way LIN blinked. This was eventually going to make LIN money, so they could afford the revenue loss. I heard from my friend who works at Time Warner Corporate that Time Warner came crawling back a week ago. They lost many customers through all of this because people realize service is better with U-Verse!
By Amy
October 29, 2008 2:07 PM | Link to this
It's great KXAN is back on TWC but we already signed up to switch to Uverse. So bye bye TWC come Nov 3rd :)
By buddy
October 29, 2008 1:41 PM | Link to this
Who do you think blinked? Uh, let's see: Scenario #1) I call Time Warner and cancel my service because I can't see "The Office" - lost revenue for Time Warner. Scenario #2) I call KXAN and complain, well they blame it on Time Warner and I cancel with Time Warner, because I still want to see "The Office." lost revenue for Time Warner.
Time Warner buckled as sure as I'm writing this. The settlement is sealed so no one else gets the great idea of putting the squeeze on Time Warner.
Look for rates to go up Time Warner suckers!
By Sara
October 29, 2008 1:29 PM | Link to this
Time Warner? What's Time Warner? I never stopped receiving KXAN my favorite station during this debacle.
By Deanna
October 29, 2008 1:13 PM | Link to this
We are in Manor, and did not miss a single show from KXAN as we perfer to watch our local stations via our indoor HDTV antenna. The picture is brighter and clearer with an HDTV antenna than over the "re-broadcast" cable transmission. It is very hard now to go back and watch local channels on Time Warner.
By Robles
October 29, 2008 1:07 PM | Link to this
At first I was upset at both of them for removing my shows. But I have learned that there are so many other options that I didn’t view the shows online or off the air. I have moved on and I hope that more people did the same as I did. Hit them where it hurts, in ratings which is money. All of this reminds me of the baseball strike, I never went back to watching baseball and I will probably not go back to watching my shows.
By Monkey
October 29, 2008 1:05 PM | Link to this
I knew KXAN would cave -- they can't stand on their own feet without TWC viewers. I didn't miss anything and plan to continue to NOT watch KXAN.