Like a year ago, Time Warner Cable entered into negotiations with New York to rework the deal for MSG, a station carrying many of the major sports games in the city. After a 48-day blackout, the issue was resolved, but a little over a year later, the cable provider may take a different tune when it comes to a slew of its channels.
Time Warner Cable recently axed the arts channel Ovation right after the contract ended between the two and negotiations stalled. While that’s probably not going to hurt too many people’s feelings toward the cable provider, TWC’s new attitude toward dropping programming might. After warning fans last month the service may drop low-rated channels, TWC sent out a notice stating a slew of channels may be up on the chopping block.
The list includes some random channels like Chinese Cinema and the Bangladesh Channel, but also some big players, including Lifetime, Starz and its sister channels, Encore and its sister channels, the NHL network and Center Ice, Style, and IFC, among many, many more. According to The Wall Street Journal, the goal is to get rid of little-watched channels that have increased the price of cable on the network over the years. Nixing some channels may allow the network to markdown prices an iota, but I get the inkling it’s going to be the niche consumers that lose out with this deal. However, as TWC reminds us, cable subscribers are welcome to downgrade or terminate their service at any time.
