CBS vs. TWC

The Big Bang Theory is among the few CBS shows I care about.

I really don't care about the war between Time Warner and CBS. TWC blacked out all CBS programming as well as Showtime which CBS owns. It's summer and there's nothing good on anyway. But if this drags out into the fall when there'll be new episodes of The Amazing Race and The Big Bang Theory, there will be hell to pay. TWC has just put an offer on the table that CBS be offered a la carte and the Big Eye network can charge whatever it wants. Of course that will be rejected. CBS knows they'll lose millions of viewers if it means we'll have to pay an extra $5 just to get Big Brother and 2 Broke Girls. The digital landscape is changing every day. No longer are the big broadcast networks giving their shows away for free and earning their money from advertisers. TWC is telling complaining customers CBS programs are available for free on the web, but then CBS blocked TWC subscribers from accessing their shows on their laptops. (If CBS did agree to a la, I would pay it just during new episodes of The Amazing Race and watch The Big Bang Theory during that period and then cancel it once TAR ended. I would catch up with Big Bang or watch on DVDs through Netflix.) I think both CBS and TWC are coming across as greedy corporate media hogs charging exorbitant prices from us poor entertainment leeches.

The whole "a la carte" thing will never go through, but I do like the idea. There are plenty of channels I never watch that I would be glad to drop--Fox News, ESPN, Speed, Golf Channel, basically anything to do with sports. If I could only pay $50 a month, I would take the broadcast channels, PBS, MSNBC, Turner Classic Movies, Bravo, Logo, Lifetime, TVLand, and maybe a few others. That's it.

Meanwhile, the only CBS show I am vaguely interested in is still available--Judge Judy is on the Long Island station Channel 55.