I would imagine these carrier disputes with Disney/ESPN will be settled in the next couple weeks. In reality, can Disney really afford not to have the advertising revenue from their ESPN Channels and/or their PPV ESPN Game Plan, missing from the 2nd largest cable provider and the 2nd largest DBS provider. That would cause 25-30 million households to be without their programing. I assume their existing advertisers and/or sponsors of ESPN programing would be looking for a rebate on their fees they have or will pay.
It's (TWC/Disney carriage dispute) getting nastier. At least here in Raleigh/Durham (where the local ABC affiliate is owned by Disney). The TV spots have gone from "you have choices" to "switch now-- it's becoming more likely that you will lose your favorite ABC and ESPN channels on Sept. 2nd". I know that it (and TWC's similar ads and Internet site) is mostly posturing-- but, Time Warner has to know that people are sick of this (many still have the Fox threats of 8 months ago fresh in their memory)-- and are jumping ship. If they even care.
It's sort of like sports strikes/lock-outs. Even though both sides are filthy rich and are responsible for the impasse-- the players are almost always painted as the bad guys. In this scenario-- TWC is/are the players, and Disney is/are the owners.
Looking through message boards, article comments, etc. ... I'd estimate that it's 10 to 1 against TWC. Not scientific, just an estimate. And, the small number who back TWC (ex. "I hate ESPN anyway")-- change their tune when they realize (in many markets) their beloved ABC entertainment programming (Dancing w/ the Stars, etc.) is on the chopping block.
It'll be interesting to see how this plays out. I suspect it'll go to the 11th hour. But, in TWC's case, they would be wise to follow Comcast's lead (ex. recent 10 yr renewal w/ CBS) to resolve it ASAP. Do I expect that? Nope.
And, don't get me started on the TWC/NFL Network impasse. It's frickin' embaressing that TWC is the ONLY one of the top 5 cable/satellite providers to not have an agreement with the NFL for NFLN and/or Red Zone. We all know the issue(s) there-- basically Greed vs. Greed. To me that's no excuse (for TWC). Notice that Cox, Comcast, DirectTV, et al (with some exceptions) don't have these problems. All of them certainly have had (and will have) contentious negotiations with content providers-- but, do they put their customers in this position over and over again?
