Disney-ABC Pulls WABC-TV Off Cablevision in New York Area
March 7, 2010
WABC-TV
Walt Disney Co.’s WABC-TV service is no more available on Cablevision Systems Corp. after two parties failing to solve a dispute over payments. More than 3 million Cablevision affected customers in parts of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut could miss the Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday. Cablevision pays $200 million a year to Disney-ABC for programming while the company is demanding $40 million more in new fees.
President and General Manager of WABC-TV, Rebecca Campbell released the statement,
“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.”
Charles Schueler, Cablevision’s executive vice president of communications, 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.”