CBS representatives said Thursday that the company had resumed talks with Time Warner Cable, after a dispute over online availability left certain cable subscribers without access to CBS stations for a seventh day.
Time Warner cut its subscribers' access to programming on CBS and Showtime channels when the two companies failed to agree on higher transmission fees.
While talks resume, CBS and Time Warner continued to attack each other in the press on Thursday.
CBS Executive Vice President Martin Franks accused Time Warner of trying to curb the company's business with online providers like Netflix and Hulu.
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Perhaps their real aim here is to use those outdated terms to hamstring our ability to do business with Netflix, Amazon, Hulu Plus and other new entrants that pose a new competitive threat to their former, cozy, unchallenged monopoly status. CBS is not going to become Time Warner Cable's accomplice in trying to throttle those new services.
Time Warner denied the claims in a statement:
We categorically deny that we are trying to keep CBS from doing business with any new entrant. Both our expired and proposed agreements with CBS place no restriction on their ability to sell all of their product to Netflix, Amazon, Intel or any other entity or continue to give all of their best content away for free online, as they have to date.
The blackout has already had an impact on CBS' bottom line.
Monday's episode of "Under the Dome" hit a season low when the blackout prompted some fans to illegally download the show.
