DISNEY VS. TIME-WARNER TV WAR ANGRY VIEWERS MISS FAVORITES.Byline: Valerie Kuklenski Staff Writer About 350,000 homes in the Los Angeles area lost their ABC ABC in full American Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928. and local KABC KABC Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children programming Monday in the Disney-vs.-Time Warner dispute, missing out on the second part of ``Arabian Nights,'' the celebrity studded ``Who Wants To Be a Millionaire'' and other popular programs. In the west San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. , about 120,000 subscribers were affected by the blackout that comes just a few days into the highly competitive - and commercially critical - May ratings sweeps period. Another 20,000 were affected in Canyon Country. While frustrated viewers blamed both companies, executives and attorneys for two of the most powerful companies in the entertainment industry blamed each other while developing legal and public relations public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most strategies. No one from either camp was willing to predict how long the standoff might continue. But it appeared likely to be protracted pro·tract tr.v. pro·tract·ed, pro·tract·ing, pro·tracts 1. To draw out or lengthen in time; prolong: disputants who needlessly protracted the negotiations. 2. since both the Disney-owned KABC (Channel 7) and Time Warner cable This article or section needs sources or references that appear in reliable, third-party publications. Alone, primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of this article are not sufficient for an accurate encyclopedia article. system planned end runs to get the network signal back into homes. Starting Wednesday, KABC will offer free DirecTV satellite dishes and installation to all Time Warner subscribers in its viewing area ``so they can get off Time Warner forever,'' said Arnold J. Kleiner, the affiliate's president and general manager. When the network's Houston affiliate made that offer last February, 18,000 subscribers accepted. Details of the Los Angeles rebate plan had yet to be ironed out late Monday. KABC also teamed with its sister radio station, 790 KABC-AM, in a simulcast of ``Who Wants to Be a Millionaire'' Monday and tonight. Selected ABC programming will be available on the radio station, as well as the TV station's Web site, www.kabc.com. Time Warner, meanwhile, is offering free switches to customers that will enable them to switch to an antenna to watch ABC programming. The two media powerhouses have been mired mire n. 1. An area of wet, soggy, muddy ground; a bog. 2. Deep slimy soil or mud. 3. A disadvantageous or difficult condition or situation: the mire of poverty. v. in a nationwide contract dispute since late last year over how much Time Warner must pay for Disney's networks - including ABC, owned affiliates such as KABC and WABC WABC Worldwide Association of Business Coaches WABC Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ symbol) WABC World Aquatic Babies Congress WABC World Association of Business Coaches WABC World Aquatic Babies & Children in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , ESPN ESPN Entertainment and Sports Programming Network and the Disney Channel - and other terms. The existing agreement lapsed in December but had been extended several times. Sunday night, ABC ran a message during prime time saying Time Warner would continue to carry ABC programming through May 24 - the end of sweeps - while the issues are resolved. But Time Warner discontinued its ABC feed just after midnight and put up a slate advising viewers that ``Disney-owned Channel 7 has pulled its programming off of Time Warner'' and, to further insult its adversary, said it will be carrying C-SPAN2 in its place. KABC's Kleiner said that statement is false. ``We're telling our viewers they need to call Time Warner to complain,'' he said. ``Time Warner took us off and only Time Warner can put us back on.'' However, Time Warner Communications spokesman Michael Luftman blamed Disney, saying it would have been illegal for the cable operator to continue to carry ABC without an agreement in effect. Angry or confused viewers who called KABC Monday were transferred to a recorded message stating the network's position and encouraging them to voice their complaints to Time Warner, the nation's largest cable service. At Time Warner's Chatsworth office, the customer service line was chronically busy. When calls did make it through, they were passed to a recording and a long wait for the chance to talk with a real person. William Croasdale, a veteran broadcast advertising buyer with Western International Media, said, ``What happens will depend on how ABC fares with the overnight ratings. If there is a marked falloff fall·off n. A reduction or decrease: a falloff in car sales. Noun 1. falloff - a noticeable deterioration in performance or quality; "the team went into a slump"; "a gradual slack in in viewers, and most of them are in major metropolitan areas, I think you'll see a quick settlement. If not, this thing could drag out for a while.'' Sandy Miereanu, a travel agent and Time Warner subscriber who lives in Woodland Hills, is one of the viewers who will affect those numbers. ``We happen to be a Nielsen family, and it's tough,'' she said. ``Boy, is it going to be skewed skewed curve of a usually unimodal distribution with one tail drawn out more than the other and the median will lie above or below the mean. skewed Epidemiology adjective Referring to an asymmetrical distribution of a population or of data .'' She said she had hopes of watching the celebrity ``Millionaire'' shows as well as the conclusion of ``Arabian Nights.'' She also routinely watches KABC's ``Eyewitness News,'' ``20/20'' and ``Good Morning America Good Morning America is a weekday morning news show that is broadcast on the ABC television network. The show was adapted from The Morning Exchange, a morning show created by and airing on the ABC affiliate in Cleveland, Ohio, and was launched nationally as .'' ``It's just annoying that the consumer is being left in the lurch, as usual,'' Miereanu said. Disney chief Michael Eisner was the target of Beth Locicero's ire. The 47-year-old Northridge waitress was furious and vowed to carry a sign through her neighborhood reading ``Boycott Disney.'' Locicero said she is annoyed about having to unplug her cable jack and rehook her antenna to watch her favorite soap opera. ``How many senior citizens, how many children, how many people in hospitals will have to crawl to the TV to get Channel 7?'' she said. Staff Writer David Kronke contributed to this story. |
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