RELATED: ACA Slams Turner
The dispute between Cable One and Turner Broadcasting kicked up a notch Wednesday after the Phoenix-based distributor said the programmer pulled there of its top networks despite the mid-sized MSO having a separate deal to carry the channels.
Cable One’s existing agreement to carry the Turner networks expired on Oct. 1, with the parties not being able to reach a deal. But in what at the time appeared to be a savvy move, Cable One believed it was able to keep access to three of Turner’s more popular channels — TBS, TNT and Cartoon Network — while dropping lower rated fare like CNN, CNN International, Turner Classic Movies, Boomerang, HLN and TruTV — didn’t last long. Later on Oct.1, Turner de-authorized all of its networks on Cable One systems.
Cable One has about 600,000 video customers in 19 states.
In a statement, Cable One CEO Tom Might said Turner’s actions were a retaliatory move, given the operator had signed an agreement through the National Cable Television Cooperative that allowed it to buy the three channels for about 50% more than its previous deal.
