Ch. 4, Time Warner are both wrong

Here's my message to Time Warner and to LIN Broadcasting, the parent company of Ch. 4 and Ch. 23 (which nobody watches anyway): Go back to your corners, take your pacifiers out of your mouths, stop crabbing at each other and get a deal done. Now.

Ch. 4 and 23 went poof in the night at midnight off of Time Warner in a money squabble and I'm pretty surprised it got this far -- but the real Armegeddon is coming Sunday at about, oh, 4:15 if CBS College Sports is still on Ch. 4 rather than the Bills game. Read Alan Pergament's update from today about Ch. 4 filing a petition with the FCC to block Time Warner from showing the Bills game via the CBS Rochester affiliate.

Both sides are in the wrong here. How about serving the public interest, people? And Ch. 4 GM Chris Musial has come off like a pompous windbag with all these "news stories" on the Wake Up show and his station's newscasts that are nothing more than infomercials pushing his side's propoganda. And then follow-up stories on how to buy and install an antenna? Embarrassing. Wonder if Musial has noticed how his anchors -- particularly Don Postles and Jacquie Walker -- can't hide their smirks when the cameras come back to them.

The Bills game is a big problem. So is CBS' Saturday college football game. But you start messing with Sunday's episode of "The Amazing Race" and I'm done with all of you.

And I won't be calling DISH or Verizon Fios either because that's what Ch. 4 is pushing and that's the deal they've obviously made. It will be sayonara, TWC, and nose up to you, Ch. 4. I'll be calling DirecTV.

---Mike Harrington

Comments

[Simple Simon]

Excuse the hell out of me but where does a tv station get off holding my Buffalo Bills game hostage to strong arm another company into paying for what it sends freely over the air waves for anybody to see. I support Time Warners desision not to give into Lin broadcastings extortion tatics. Allthough i'm not happy I will have to make other arraingements to see the Bills I will never support wivb again. Disgruntled tv viewer.

[Simple Simon]

Excuse the hell out of me but where does a tv station get off holding my Buffalo Bills game hostage to strong arm another company into paying for what it sends freely over the air waves for anybody to see. I support Time Warners desision not to give into Lin broadcastings extortion tatics. Allthough i'm not happy I will have to make other arraingements to see the Bills I will never support wivb again. Disgruntled tv viewer.