As Time Warner Cable and CBS continue to squabble over retransmission fees, DirecTV has entered the battle as well. The company said in a statement that it was appalled that CBS was blocking full episodes of its TV shows on its website for TWC internet customers. This is a blanket block, even if the user doesn't use TWC for their TV, the block still applies. And, just to aggravate CBS, DirecTV compared the current situation to the premise of the popular show, Under The Dome.
"Just like the characters in CBS' Under The Dome, all pay TV customers are feeling trapped and helpless as broadcasters expect them to absorb ridiculous rate increases for the exact same programming," it said. "We applaud Time Warner Cable for fighting back against exorbitant programming cost increases." Time Warner and CBS have been unable to resolve retransmission fee issues for CBS, Showtime, and other network channels. Time Warner Cable has been whining that CBS is asking them to pay an "outrageous increase".
The two companies have run over many deadlines, and are still fighting over terms. Basically, the idea of a new retransmission deal is pretty far fetched. Competitors to Time Warner Cable are benefiting from this enormously. DirecTV, a popular satellite TV provider, benefits from low retransmission fees, and Aereo, a startup who is trying to up root the TV industry, pays no retransmission fees at all.
