Customers to Lose Cable

Certain customers are set to lose some of their favorite channels, as early as today, due to disputes between Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE:TWC) and their affiliated channels. This is not the first time as customer lost the Fox network channel, earlier this year, due to disputes between Cablevision and the Fox Network. This problem generally comes about because of royalty payment disputes between cable companies and network channels. Network channels are claiming that they are simply not being paid enough for their programs and as a result, cable distributors like Time Warner are making a huge profit.

Losing a channel for certain customers could mean a loss for cable companies. There are several cable providers and if one of them is unable to provide a favorite channel, customers are known to take their business elsewhere. This in turn can end up being a loss for cable companies if they lose customers, in the masses. Most of the time, the problems are resolved before a channel blackout and everyone is hoping for the same to take place this time too. It is rare to lose a large contract, and companies will do whatever necessary to maintain the regular channels and programs.