We really ought to applaud Time Warner, I think. A company that owns the rights to broadcast some of the major networks in certain markets, LIN TV, has been playing hardball with the cable operator, demanding more money for access to the channels. Time Warner is all, “But, you can get these channels for free over the air, and many times online, why should we pay you (and raise our subscribers’ prices)?”
So, rather than pony up the cash—so far, at least—Time Warner is telling its subscribers how to watch these networks online for free. Not illegal stuff like The Pirate Bay, but legal avenues like Hulu and ABC’s streaming. A message on affected subscribers TVs informs them to go to Time Warner’s site for more information, including instructional videos and the like.
Now, how this all resolves itself is still up in the air—no one really expects Time Warner to leave the affected networks off its cable systems for good. That said, how greedy of LIN TV. How is it going to mark up the price of something that’s freely available elsewhere? Next thing you know, we’ll all be buying bottled water!