NY Times Profiles ‘Big TV Brawls’
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, July 12, 2010 · 
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The New York Times published an interesting article yesterday which highlights the escalating programming war between content providers and carriers – and the simultaneous conflict for subscriber eye balls between telcos and cable providers.
Over the weekend Verizon took aim at Time Warner Cable, noting that Time Warner’s contract with Disney – supplier of ESPN, ABC and the Disney Channel – will expire on September 2. Verizon ran two high-profile ads which urged customers to preemptively switch to Verizon’s FiOS service to retain programming.
“Count on ABC7 for the best programming. Count on FiOS for ABC7,” read a full-page ad in The Los Angeles Times on Saturday. A similar ad on Friday in The St. Petersburg Times of Florida tilted off ESPN: “You don’t have to wait to find out if you will keep your favorite shows. Switch to FiOS.”
It’s a gutsy move on Verizon’s part, especially since Time Warner’s programming contract with Disney does not expire for almost two months. Verizon’s public relations campaign speaks to the increasingly competitive nature of the video marketplace.
As you know first-hand, no video provider is immune; despite playing hardball in a few notorious cases, when push comes to shove the broadcasters have won (i.e. Disney over Cablevision, Fox over Time Warner.) Indeed, all types of TV distributors have lost substantial ground as broadcasters and cable content providers demand generous retransmission consent fees.
I expect we will see increasing animosity between telcos, cable cos. and content providers in the months to come.
For more, read this New York Times article: “In Cable Delivery, Rivals Pounce“
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