Saturday, January 2
Food Network & HGTV Dropped by Cablevision in NYC
On New Year's Eve, as I was re-watching the episode of The Next Food Network Star where the contestants cook at Ina Garten's house in the Hamptons, little did I know that had I been living in New York or the Tri-State region (and a Cablevision subscriber), that would have been the LAST NIGHT I HAD FOOD NETWORK (or my newfound love HGTV, where I spent more hours in the day watching House Hunters).
That's right, Cablevision dropped the two Scripps Networks channels like they were the damn New Year's Eve ball in Times Square at midnight on 12/31.
I've never been so happy to not live in New York!
Of course, this is all about money. Food Network and HGTV have increased their ratings and viewership and, in turn, want Cablevision (and other providers) to pay more for their offerings.
According to Scripps, Cablevision, which serves about 3 million television viewers in the New York City, Long Island and Tri-State Region, charges its subscribers an average fee in excess of $83 per month. Of that, Food Network and HGTV combined receive less than 25 cents per subscriber.
Food Network and Scripps want more than a quarter.
Soooo, apparently, subscribers are only really giving FN & HGTV less than 25 cents to receive those channels. Scripps shows results of a study called the 2009 Beta Cable Subscriber Study and found that:
"The average cable subscriber believes Food Network is worth $1.03 per month and HGTV is valued at 73 cents per month, which is considerably more than Cablevision has been paying for the networks’ programming and more than Scripps Networks Interactive is asking on behalf of the two brands in current contract negotiations."
Hmmm... if it was possible to JUST subscribe to Food Network & HGTV, I'd gladly give them a little over a buck for FN and a few quarters for HGTV. Imagine a cable bill of $1.76!
In response, Scipps is urging affected subscribers to visit IloveFoodNetwork.com and ILoveHGTV.com for information on how to demand Cablevision put the two networks back on the air.
***********
Any fellow Food Network/HGTV addicts out there affected? Want me to call you and put the phone up to the TV so you can at least hear what's going on? I'm here to help. ;-)
That's right, Cablevision dropped the two Scripps Networks channels like they were the damn New Year's Eve ball in Times Square at midnight on 12/31.
I've never been so happy to not live in New York!
Of course, this is all about money. Food Network and HGTV have increased their ratings and viewership and, in turn, want Cablevision (and other providers) to pay more for their offerings.
According to Scripps, Cablevision, which serves about 3 million television viewers in the New York City, Long Island and Tri-State Region, charges its subscribers an average fee in excess of $83 per month. Of that, Food Network and HGTV combined receive less than 25 cents per subscriber.
Food Network and Scripps want more than a quarter.
Soooo, apparently, subscribers are only really giving FN & HGTV less than 25 cents to receive those channels. Scripps shows results of a study called the 2009 Beta Cable Subscriber Study and found that:
"The average cable subscriber believes Food Network is worth $1.03 per month and HGTV is valued at 73 cents per month, which is considerably more than Cablevision has been paying for the networks’ programming and more than Scripps Networks Interactive is asking on behalf of the two brands in current contract negotiations."
Hmmm... if it was possible to JUST subscribe to Food Network & HGTV, I'd gladly give them a little over a buck for FN and a few quarters for HGTV. Imagine a cable bill of $1.76!
In response, Scipps is urging affected subscribers to visit IloveFoodNetwork.com and ILoveHGTV.com for information on how to demand Cablevision put the two networks back on the air.
***********
Any fellow Food Network/HGTV addicts out there affected? Want me to call you and put the phone up to the TV so you can at least hear what's going on? I'm here to help. ;-)
Labels: food network
posted by jacob @ 10:17 AM
8 Comments:
to my shock and horror, I woke up yesterday with no Food Network!! It was as if someone just slapped me in the face. Now we are on to day two of no FN and I am currently going through withdrawals and the stages of grief. Right now I am still in denial! Hoping that when I pass by the channel it will suddenly on. But no. I called the number to complain and it's a lot of he said/she said. Unfortunately this sounds pretty ugly and I don't see a resolution in sight. Cablevision is making it sound like they have pretty much wiped their hands clean of FN and HGTV. Sad way to start 2010! Since these are practically the majority of channels I watch, I am thinking of switching providers. How's Verizon Fios? LOL
What I wouldn't give to hear Ina say "How bad can that be??" right now or Aunt Sandy announce that it is "cocktail time!"
I would be devastated The show hosts/chefs are our friend, and its' something that you don't have any control over
Verizon FIOS is.........AWESOME!!!! I would recommend it to anyone and its cheaper than Time Warner
It has [here in Central NY] many many more channels, and more technology, the DVR you can watch taped shows from any TV in the house, that is pretty cool and you can access Facebook on your TV I mean its crazy
Its so worth the change
I am a cablevision customer in Westchester county, NY, and absolutely refuse to live without Chopped!
my husband called fios today and they will be here to install on tuesday (so I will not have to miss the new episode of my favorite show) - not only will we get the food channel on fios but several other channels cablevision did not provide. It will even cost less and I now realize we should have switched long ago. I can't wait to cancel cable and tell them it's because they no longer carry the food channel :)
You will LOVE Fios
If I still lived in NY and this happened to me I would have FREAKED! I LOVE Food Network, it's my comfort tv, and I would inundate the powers that be with emails, phone calls, etc., to get Food Network back. FIGHT BACK!
I love the idea of your $1.76 cable bill. I get, and pay for, dozens of channels I never even glance at. I dream of a system where you could pay for only the channels you WANT to see.
I wish I had Fios - but it wasn't Cablevision. Scripps pulled their channels as an ace move. I really hate being a pawn in corporate BS. Really disappointed in FN's parents right now.
I love the food network! Why is tru tv,dtv, gem,style,crtv, or a lot of other channels not getting cut? Please,please don't tell me more people watch them. If so, i'm sad.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home