Disney Nets Remain On TWC As Contract Expires

Spokesperson says two sides are still talking

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 9/2/2010 11:29:47 AM

Disney cable nets and ABC-owned stations were still on Time Warner Cable and Bright House systems Thursday morning.

The contract deadline expired Wednesday night, but a Time Warner Cable spokesperson said the two sides were still talking and the programming was still on the air.

There were signs Sunday (Aug. 29) that the two had made major progress in their often-heated negotiations, with a source saying the "major issues" had been resolved.

The FCC has been monitoring the talks. It was put on notice by some powerful legislators last fall that it was consumer-unfriendly for stations or networks to go dark on cable systems during retrans impasses. FCC Chairman Juilus Genachowski pledged to look into it, which has included collecting comment on the petition by TWC and other MVPDs to open a rulemaking on possible changes.

Those would include standstill agreements to keep signals on during impasses as well as outside arbitration.