TWC

Time Warner Cable and other pay-TV operators are offering incentives to media companies that agree to withhold content from Web-based entertainment services such as those pursued by Intel Corp. and Apple Inc., people with knowledge of the matter say. The incentives can take the form of higher payments, or they can include threats to drop programming, according to the sources, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private.

The broadcaster has begun to warn more than 1.5 million viewers in 14 markets that its stations could disappear from Time Warner Cable and Bright House Network systems at the end of next week unless the companies reach a new retransmission consent agreement. Stations at risk include LIN TV’s NBC, CW, and MyNetworkTV affiliates in Austin, Texas; CBS and CW stations in Buffalo, N.Y.; NBC and CW outlets in Dayton, Ohio; and Fox and CW stations in Green Bay, Wis.

Time Warner Cable joins a growing chorus of companies that are beginning to chip away at long-held business relationships with major broadcast television networks. CEO Glenn Britt: “What Aereo is doing to bring broadcast signals to its customers is interesting. If it is found legal, we could conceivably use similar technology,” he says.

AMC Networks said Monday that it has temporarily extended a carriage deal with Time Warner Cable as the two sides negotiate a renewal of the contract that expired at midnight on Dec. 31.

Time Warner Cable boss Glenn Britt’s message to low-rated cable networks is simple: You’ll get nothing, and like it. Britt — who is looking to rein in soaring programming costs by culling channels with smaller audiences — has started telling some programmers that they can either go dark or get no fee at all in return for continued distribution on his service.

After negotiating exclusively with Fox Sports on a new TV deal to keep the team on its Prime Ticket network, the Dodgers have taken a meeting with Time Warner Cable, which wants the team on its SportsNet and Deportes channels.

Time Warner Cable Chief Executive Officer Glenn Britt threatened to drop networks with low ratings when their programming contracts expire to combat rising pay-television costs. Distribution on Time Warner Cable, the second-largest U.S. cable company, “is not a birthright,” Britt said Monday.

beIN SPORT, the new independent 24-hour global network dedicated to live and exclusive coverage of the world’s best soccer and international sports, today announced it will be carried by Time […]

The National Football League reached agreement with Time Warner (TWC) Cable Inc. to carry the league-owned NFL Network and RedZone Channel, two people with direct knowledge of the situation said. The multiyear accord may be announced later today, according to the people, who were granted anonymity because the contract hasn’t been signed.

After weeks of quiet but intense negotiations, Time Warner Cable and Fox News have struck a new long-term affiliation agreement. The talks between the two giants remained mostly under the radar and terms weren’t disclosed but sources say Fox will get a $1 per sub increase in the first year, and increases in the following years.

TV station groups should thank Time Warner Cable for the wake-up call. It’s unlikely that station owners will ever again craft a contract without explicit, inarguable language saying their stations cannot be imported into a faraway market.

Time Warner Cable, which has already landed Lakers telecasts, is launching English- and Spanish-language sports channels in a bid to circumvent News Corp.

TiVo’s business model seems to be based on suing companies for selling DVRs that allegedly use its patented processes to do things that users take for granted such as watching one show while recording another. And today it challenged a formidable opponent: Time Warner Cable, which has 12 million subs, is the No. 2 cable company and No. 4 pay TV provider.

As bidding for the Los Angeles Dodgers enters its final innings, News Corp’s Fox sports unit and Time Warner Cable are headed toward what could be a multi-billion dollar showdown over the rights to telecast the franchise’s baseball games.

The broadcasters says it hasn’t been able to agree to terms with Time Warner Cable for carriage of WCTI and WFXI-WYDO, as the Dec. 31 deadline nears.

The cable systems serve about 70,000 basic video subscribers, 42,000 high speed data or HSD subscribers, and 26,000 phone subscribers in Kentucky and western Tennessee.

To attract more video customers, Time Warner Cable plans to invest significantly in marketing this year, although no financial terms were disclosed.

The broadcaster joins Nexstar in asking the commission to forbid Time Warner Cable from using United’s Fox affiliate WNYF-CA Watertown, N.Y. as substitute network programming in the cable operator’s retransmission consent battle with Smith Media in Burlington, Vt.-Plattaburgh, N.Y.