Barbara Walters And Regis And Kelly Shill For ABC In Cablevision Battle

The Walt Disney Company and Cablevision have entered a very public stage of their battle over distribution payments, shedding an ugly light on the curiously byzantine relationship between networks and cable providers. While both parties have put forth advertisements advancing their sides of the the debate, ABC recently took things much further: enlisting some of their biggest names in broadcasting to weigh in on the squabble. Barbara Walters, Kelly Ripa and Regis Philbin all used their very large megaphones to opine on the matter, shockingly taking the side of ABC (the network where their shows air) and making them appear petty, small and inappropriate.

So what is behind this public battle? Writing for the NY Times, Brian Stelter and Brooks Barnes report:

Talks were halted Monday night between Disney, the owner of the ABC network, and Cablevision, the cable television provider for about three million households in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

The signal for ABC’s New York station, WABC, has been retransmitted, essentially free, by Cablevision for decades, but Cablevision said Tuesday that ABC now wanted $40 million a year, or about $1 a month for each subscriber. Asked about the $1 figure, Kevin Brockman, executive vice president for communications for the Disney-ABC Television Group, said “that is absolutely, categorically not true and Cablevision knows it.” Mr. Brockman declined to say what price Disney was seeking.

Cablevision has countered with an offer of roughly 25 cents, another person briefed on the talks said. The people requested anonymity because the parties involved consider the talks private.

As you will see in the Barbara Waters clip on The View, it appears that ABC may be using the Oscar’s as the carrot at the end of their stick in this negotiation. Could they really choose not to air the Academy Awards just to make a point? That’s really hard to imagine. After all, Walt Disney Company is a huge player in the Film Industry. But an idle threat is a threat nonetheless.

The battles over cable rights and distribution are not new – in the last few months Fox and Time Warner had a similar tête à tête. But it is rare to see on-air personalities of this scale actually get their hands dirty – and dirty they are. One wonders if Cablevision’s next move is to challenge ABC’s corporate basketball team to a game of five on five with the Knicks (who are owned by Cablevision.) Chris Cuomo might be a good hoopster, but he’s certainly no Tracy McGrady.

Now watch the following clips of the on-air shilling (transcripts after the video):

We have a little note we want to tell you. “Dancing With The Stars” and “The Bachelor” are all ABC shows, along with “The View” but for over two years, ABC Channel 7 in New York has been negotiating with Cablevision for a fair portion of profits for carrying the ABC station. It’s not going well and as of Saturday midnight Cablevision customers in the New York area will not be able to see the Oscars or my last Oscar night special. This seems unfair. If this happens, you have options. You can contact Cablevision – tell them you don’t want to lose ABC. You can switch to other providers like Verizon or DirecTV or see it free over the air. To find out more, go to our Web site-

Transcript from Regis & Kelly:

Kelly: Have you seen what’s happening here in New York between Cablevision and WABC? I was reading about it today in the paper and I saw it this morning on the news. I couldn’t believe it.

Regis: Starting Monday here in New York, if Cablevision and Channel 7 don’t come to an agreement, viewers will not be able to watch “Regis & Kelly.”

Kelly: That’s right.

Regis: Just a reminder, Cablevision gets paid by the subscribers and Channel 7 is not paid.

Kelly: They’ve been negotiating this –

Regis: For two years now —

Kelly: And apparently, it’s, you know, I always thought our show is free, but apparently, Cablevision subscribers pay for the privilege to watch this. [Laughter]

Regis: That is kind of funny when you think about it.

Kelly: And so I guess there’s been a negotiation–

Regis: Yeah, for two years now but it’s up this Saturday night at midnight. So, we could be blacked out the next day, the Academy Awards.

Kelly: But people were saying you could find another way to watch our show. You could by an antenna or go with a different package.

Regis: Sure. There are all kinds of packages out there. Anyway, keep your eye on that one.