Time Warner Cable and CBS Corp. came to an agreement late Monday to end a month-long blackout that left millions of Time Warner Cable subscribers without access to the popular network's programming.
Such a deal was inevitable as CBS is a key broadcasting partner of the National Football League and the Southeastern Conference - the former of which is scheduled to kick off the 2013 season later this week. Simply put, there is too much money tied up in football for a deal to drag past kickoff.
Terms of the revised agreement were not disclosed although CBS Chief Executive Leslie Moonves reportedly said in an internal memo that all the value and terms they sought in the discussions were delivered. True enough, Time Warner chief Glenn Britt said in a statement that although his company didn't get everything they wanted, they ended up in a much better place than where they started.
Acting FCC Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn said she is pleased CBS and Time Warner Cable have resolved their retransmission consent negotiations, which for too long have deprived millions of consumers of access to CBS programming. She goes on to point out that at the end of the day, media companies should accept shared responsibility for putting their audience's interests above other interests and do all they can to void these kinds of disputes in the future.
CBS programming resumed at 6:00 PM EST on Monday in affected markets.