Cablevision, the Country's fifth largest cable provider, removed ABC from its channel lineup after failing to come to an agreement over fees. Most of its customers live in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. If you live on Long Island, chances are you subscribe to Cablevision.
This long protracted battle has resulted in the first time a cable company has blacked out a major TV network. Time Warner came very close to doing so with Fox not so long ago, but an agreement was reached at the last minute.
Who will suffer more from this blackout - ABC or Cablevision? Right now it is the subscribers suffering the most. Tonight, the Academy awards ceremony will be airing on ABC. Many very popular TV shows also air on ABC such as The Final Season of Lost, The Bachelor, Modern Family, Castle, Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives and a brand new season of Dancing with the Stars.
If you live on Long Island or one of the other areas in which ABC is no longer available, what can you do. Luckily both ABC.com and Hulu offer free full epsiodes of most ABC television shows. What about the Oscars? You can view the red carpet arrivals from Oscar.com's Live From the Red Carpet Facebook Webcast.
As to the actual Academy Awards ceremony, you may only be able to access clips and updates online. You should be able to find clips on The Oscars You Tube channel. Academy Award updates will be available from a variety of sources. If you are on Twitter, search #oscar for a stream of more tweets than you will ever need. Most entertainment blogs will also be live blogging the award show.
What can you do in the long run if ABC and Cablevision don't settle their dispute. If you live in an area serviced by Verizon FIOS, you can easily switch. Unfortunately, not all of Long Island is covered yet. You can also check into satellite and other direct TV alternatives. Good luck, and hopefully ABC will be restored to Cablevision soon.
Comments
Why don't you get the story straight? Cablevision didn't block subscribers, ABC pulled its signal. No wonder todays media are such a joke.
I support Cablevision in their decision to not give into the demands of ABC. I will miss a few of their programs but I am happy to do without ABC until they come to their senses.
GET YOUR FACTS STR8, CABLEVISION DID NOT PULL ABC FROM THEIR CHANNEL LINEUP. DO YOUR JOB BETTER. ABC PULLED ITS SIGNAL. WHAT A BUNCH OF FOOLS, WANNA JOURNALIST.
This must be incredibly annoying for those affected. TipTop FeelTipTop.com will be another good site to monitor live sentiment about the Oscars ceremony.
If you are going to report something, you should verify your facts. Disney stopped transmitting the ABC signal to Cablevision. Cablevision did not pull the channel from the line up.
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