WISN, Milwaukee’s ABC affiliate, is still off-air in many Milwaukee homes due a contract dispute between its parent company, New-York-based Hearst Television, and Time Warner Cable. The flap has been flapping since Friday, when the station went dark on the cable system. (Anyone with a digital TV and a good pair of bunny ears can still get it, of course.)
Both companies are pleading their cases directly to consumers. Time Warner sent an email to subscribers last night saying Hearst Television’s “demand for a nearly 300% increase is way out of line.” A post on WISN’s website, nestled among news content, counters that Hearst has sought “a reasonable increase consistent with the increased costs we have to pay for our highly valued programming.”
Time Warner, playing the blame game, says “broadcaster blackouts are wrong,” but Hearst points a finger right back at the telecom company. “We regret the inconvenience Time Warner Cable has imposed on its subscribers,” the post says. “We have not ‘blacked out’ our station.”
For a segment explaining the outage (which is also affecting about a dozen other stations around the country) WISN found a loyal watcher in Muskego, Pat Mazza, who protested, “They can’t do that. They can’t do that to us,” though it’s not clear if she’s referring to Hearst, Time Warner or both. Later, she obviously refers to both. “It’s a financial game between the two giants, and we’re all the pawns,” she says. “This is ridiculous.”
