Updated 03/07/2010 04:57 PM
Cablevision Mulls Arbitration Deal With ABC Disney
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Cable company Cablevision said Sunday it would agree to government calls for binding arbitration with ABC Disney in order to immediately return channel 7 to its customers.
This comes after Disney switched off its WABC-TV signal at midnight in an ongoing fee dispute.
Cablevision customers were greeted Sunday morning with a message from the company, explaining that WABC7 had been pulled after negotiations between the two companies fell through.
Cablevision says Disney is asking for an additional $40 million a year in new fees, even though it pays out more than $200 million a year to Disney.
But Disney says Cablevision charges customers for basic broadcast signals and doesn't pass any of that money on to Disney.
A spokeswoman for WABC says the station has sent Cablevision a new proposal and is awaiting a response, but says the cable company needs to act now.
The latest proposal came just hours before the Oscars were set to hit the airwaves.
Customers in the Bronx who spoke with NY1 said they didn't care about the logistics, as along as they get their station back.
"I watch 'The View' and a few of the ABC shows daily so when I turned this morning and saw it was actually gone, I told my wife they went forth, they actually did it and I was really surprised to see it came to this point," said one Bronx resident.
"Why should we pay for that, we pay for service as it is and now we're not having channel 7 because of money they owe -- then I guess we need a break on our bill too," said another Bronx resident.
In a statement released Sunday morning, Cablevision said, "It is now painfully clear to millions of New York area households that Disney CEO Bob Iger will hold his own ABC viewers hostage in order to extract $40 million in new fees from Cablevision. We call on Bob Iger to immediately return ABC to Cablevision customers while we continue to work to reach a fair agreement."
Disney later fired back, saying, "Cablevision has once again betrayed its subscribers by losing ABC7, the most popular station in the tri-state area. This follows two years of negotiations, during which we worked diligently up to the final moments, to reach an agreement. Cablevision pocketed almost $8 billion last year, and now customers aren’t getting what they pay for...again. It’s time for Jim Dolan and the Dolan Family Dynasty to finally step up, be fair, and do what’s right for our viewers.”
Cablevision serves more than three million customers in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.