Time Warner Cable v/ Lin Television
I love getting caught up in corporate bitch brawls.
Two channels have disappeared from my cable lineup because Time Warner Cable and LIN TV can’t agree on pricing. I understand the overall argument. One side wants to make more money and the other side doesn’t want to pay it. That’s not the really sad part since that kind of thing happens every day. The sad part is how willing both sides have been to completely screw their customer base in order to get the point across about how serious they are.
Where’s that leave the customers? Well, fucked to be honest. I don’t get two stations, one of which constitutes a good chunk of my Monday TV viewing schedule. Time Warner suggests I use an antenna or watch things online, which makes me wonder exactly why I would bother with cable TV in the first place. Between the different stations putting their content online and being able to torrent the rest I’d figure it a lot cheaper to just skip the whole cable TV service entirely. Of course Time Warner doesn’t mean I should do that for all of my TV…only for CBS. Lin TV and their local affiliate WIVB suggest I switch to Dish Network immediately. So much so I’m starting to think that Dish is slipping them some serious cash for the advertising. Why don’t they recommend DirecTV? But you know what? I would dream of switching providers solely on the recommendation of a station that thinks so poorly of me that they won’t extend their contract while negotiations are going on. That’s like getting recommended which hospital to go to from the guy who just kicked you in the balls.
If you’re interested in catching the different sides of the argument here’s the links for Time Warner Cable, LIN Television, and WIVB’s take on the situation.
At the end of the day all three are saying the same thing to their customers: screw you.