Okay Geek Farm
3.1 Million Cablevision customers unable to watch Oscars
Brandon Davenport
Lots of us are planning Oscar parties and get-togethers, but in New York, millions are about to face Oscar night without a broadcast. ABC's parent company suddenly switched off its signal to Cablevision customers and the two companies blasted each other for failing to reach a deal in a dispute over fees.
Cablevision said all fingers should be pointed at Disney CEO Bob Iger. Cablevision executive Charles Schueler, went on to say "Bob Iger will hold his own ABC viewers hostage in order to extract $40 million in new fees from Cablevision".
Soon after, Charissa Gilmore, a spokeswoman for Disney and ABC, went on to say that "Cablevision pocketed almost $8 billion last year, and now customers aren't getting what they pay for ... again." So what people are doing right now is simply trying to scramble together a plan to watch the Oscars, because the broadcast can still be pulled from the air for free with an antenna and a new TV or digital converter box.
This is the first time in a long time that a major broadcast station went dark in a dispute with a cable company, and the fact that it has to happen at all is ridiculous. Greed and power really come to play in this dispute between two companies that argue that one another are depriving costumers of their service, but while they are arguing, they are doing just that.
