With its stations and cable networks off Time Warner Cable since Friday, CBS says there have been no negotiations between the parties over the weekend.
"There are no negotiations taking place at this time between CBS and Time Warner Cable," CBS said in a statement. "Before the deadline on Friday we asked TWC to continue the negotiation while our programming was still on the air in consideration for our viewers. They rejected this request and told us that they'd have more leverage against us if they took us off their service. This is hardly a sign that they care about their customers as they claim. We remain ready to negotiate in good faith when they are."
"We regret the inconvenience to our customers (and their viewers) and look forward to resolving the situation as soon as possible," Time Warner Cable said in a statement.
Analyst John Janedis of UBS expects CBS to emerge from the blackout in good shape, calling the mid-term financial impact minimal relative to more long-term ramifications.
Janedis estimates that being dark in Time Warner Cable markets could cost CBS about $400,000 a day, including lost retrans revenue and a loss of advertising dollars at both the network and the stations. That means each two weeks off TW Cable is a loss of 1 cent of earnings per share.
"Our view continues to be that consumers have more loyalty to the content rather than the company which is responsible for distribution and with contracts often running 5 plus years CBS can't afford to take below market value given the inability to renegotiate terms," Janedis said in a research note. "If history is a guide, this should be resolved in less than two weeks" and the programmers stocks are rarely affected.
Janedis reiterated his "buy" recommendation for CBS stock.
