Walt Disney Co’s (DIS.N) ABC network threatened on Monday to drop its programs from Cablevision (CVC.N) in a dispute over fees, similar to an impasse between Fox and Time Warner Cable Inc (TWC.N) that was resolved earlier this year.
ABC said it would begin running on-air messages to Cablevision subscribers from Monday night to warn them they may no longer have access to the station from Sunday, March 7.
It said the company had tried to negotiate with Cablevision for the past two years, and would not continue offering its content without appropriate compensation.
“We can no longer sit back and allow Cablevision to use our shows for free while they continue to charge their customers for them,” Rebecca S. Campbell, president and general manager of ABC’s WABC-TV, said in a statement.
ABC’s shows include Lost, Grey’s Anatomy, and Desperate Housewives as well as news programs like Good Morning America.
Cablevision said the company was urging ABC not to pull the plug and instead work to negotiate an agreement.
“It is shocking that in these difficult economic times, ABC Disney is threatening to remove WABC unless Cablevision and its customers pay $40 million in new fees for programming that it offers today for free, both over-the-air and online,” said Charles Schueler, executive vice president of communications and community relations at Cablevision.
Fox and Time Warner, which had similarly disagreed over how much the cable service provider should pay for the right to carry the network, reached a deal on Jan. 1 to avoid a blackout after months of negotiations.
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