Time Warner Files Court Action to Block Dispatch Group From Pulling WBNS 10TV.

COLUMBUS, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 8, 1999--

Time Warner Communications (NYSE:TWX) today filed an action in Federal District Court in Columbus to prevent the Dispatch Broadcast Group from taking WBNS 10TV away from Time Warner customers. The action is the latest step taken by Time Warner to protect its customers as it negotiates with the Dispatch Broadcast Group for continued permission to carry 10TV.

"We have promised our customers we will do everything we can to protect their right to enjoy all of 10TV's CBS programming," said Terry O'Connell, president of Time Warner Communications. "And if that means exhausting every legal avenue, then we're prepared to do it."

Time Warner is legally required to obtain permission from the Dispatch Group in order to carry WBNS 10TV, the local CBS affiliate, on its cable system. The Dispatch Group is withholding its permission unless Time Warner gives in to its demands to support its latest business venture, a new cable channel called "ONN." "The Dispatch Group has said unless Time Warner adds ONN to its cable line-up, it will not give Time Warner permission to carry WBNS 10TV," O'Connell added.

The court filing argues that under the current contractual agreement, WBNS 10TV was obligated to provide written notice of termination of the contract to Time Warner by early November; otherwise, the agreement automatically renews for two more years. WBNS 10TV failed to provide the required notice. As a result, Time Warner Communications is authorized under the contract to carry WBNS 10TV for another two years.

The legal action is Time Warner's latest step to keep WBNS 10TV on its system. Earlier in negotiations, Time Warner agreed to carry ONN on its new Digital Cable service to ensure its customers could continue enjoying CBS programming. The Dispatch Group last week rejected the compromise offer and renewed its threat to pull 10TV off the Time Warner system.

"We came to the table and offered a number of compromises," O'Connell said. "But the Dispatch Group continues to place its new business venture above the interest of its viewers who also happen to be cable customers."

Time Warner Communications serves nearly 305,000 customers in 290 Central Ohio communities. It is a division of Time Warner Cable, which owns and manages the world's most advanced, best clustered cable television operations, with 80 percent of its 12.9 million customers in systems of 100,000 subscribers or more. Time Warner Cable is a division of Time Warner Entertainment.