Time Warner Cable Versus CBS: Win, Loss or Draw?

In an interview with SNL Kagan, counsel John Hane noted that although press reports have indicated CBS got the better end of the deal, it is hard for anyone to know the truth of the matter when the terms were not disclosed. “I'm sure CBS got very significant increases. Their old deal was far below market,” he said. “But many things were traded off, so it's hard to know where the parties landed unless you have a copy of the deal.”

Commenting on TWC’s goals, Hane said, “I can't say what TWC's motivation was, but it was probably a mix of commercial and political goals.” He added, “There's no question MVPDs (multichannel video programming distributors) have forced many and probably most of the blackouts over the last couple of years. They like to test broadcasters' resolve and they like to show publicly — to other broadcasters — that they are willing to go dark. And they are eager to play the blackouts up politically.”

Speaking to Communications Daily, partner Scott Flick explained that reaching a resolution in these types of disputes is “a watershed event in the sense that the real winner is those who wanted efficient negotiations.”

According to Flick, looking to the Federal Communications Commission or Congress to step in slows down retransmission negotiations. The negotiations accomplished “an understanding on behalf of both broadcasters and cable and satellite operators that it’s a waste of time to be looking to the government for involvement on one side or the other.”

The negotiations are a success for the FCC “in the sense that people will hopefully stop calling on the commission to leap into every negotiation,” he said. Flick added that he doubts that people will be looking for the FCC to intervene in future negotiations. “They’re going to realize if the FCC didn’t attempt to step in in a more concrete way than it did, the likelihood of it doing on some future negotiation doesn’t seem terribly high.”