After days of deliberation regarding a rate dispute, Time Warner Cable might drop CBS in a few cities if the parties fail to come to an agreement by Friday.
TWC and CBS have been battling over the transmission fee that the cable company pays to air CBS-owned news stations in major cities including New York City, Dallas and Los Angeles.
Although the deadline to complete negotiations has been moved 10 times since the previous contract expired on June 30th, the deliberation took a turn for the worse in Monday's overnight negotiations as Time threatened to pull CBS from the aforementioned cities.
According to CNN Money, some CBS channels were indeed blacked out in certain markets at one point. Service has resumed since.
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After emitting strong statements about their position in the negotiations, both companies took it all back and Time Warner announced it would continue to air CBS's signal until Friday at 5 p.m. ET.
According to Time, CBS is charging 600 percent more for its programming in New York, Dallas and Los Angeles than it is in smaller cities. If the channel refuses to lower its rate, about 3 million cable subscribers might lose access to several CBS-owned networks including Showtime by the end of the week.
Ever since the conflict began, CBS has been airing a commercial stating that "Time Warner Cable is threatening to hold your favorite shows hostage."
As CNN points out, the companies will very likely reach an agreement at one point, especially with football season right around the corner. The question is, however, whether or not consumers will have to endure a blackout before they do.
