Time Warner CBS Play The Blame Game: ‘It’s Not Us, It’s Them!’

The Time Warner CBS dispute erupted unexpectedly into a full-blown argument, resulting in Time Warner Cable pulling the plug on CBS programs.

In a joint announcement the two companies said that CBS was taking its programs off the air in several markets. The programs included Showtime,TMC and Smithsonian. In an astonishingly frank press release the companies placed the blame on each other.

CBS, responding to its programs being removed in New York, Los Angeles, and Dallas said: “Throughout this process, Time Warner Cable has conducted negotiations in a combative and non-productive spirit, indulging in pointless brinksmanship and distorted public positioning — such as the fictional and ridiculous 600% increase CBS supposedly demanded — while maintaining antiquated positions no longer held by any other programming distributor in the business.”

Time Warner Cable responded: “We agreed to an extension on Tuesday morning with the expectation that we would engage in a meaningful negotiation with CBS. Since then, CBS has refused to have a productive discussion. It’s become clear that no matter how much time we give them, they’re not willing to come to reasonable terms.”

Other markets affected by this struggle include: Chicago, Denver, Boston, and Detroit. Both parties insist that they are working toward a speedy resolution of the Time Warner CBS dispute. Neither of them will commit to a date when the negotiations might get back on track.