Some 2.3 subscribers homes in the country may lose AMC next week, just days before the Season 4 premiere of the network's flagship drama Mad Men, which returns July 25. Cable operator AT&T U-verse has informed AMC parent Rainbow Media that it intends to drop AMC and sister channels WE tv and IFC when the companies' current carriage agreement expires at midnight on July 14 unless a new agreement is reached. AT&T and Rainbow had been negotiating unsuccessfully over new carriage fees for the past six months. Rainbow has started notifying its viewers about the possibility of its networks going dark on AT&T systems. "AT&T is acting in an aggressive manner that puts their corporate interests ahead of their customers," AMC said in a statement. "We are negotiating in good faith with AT&T and are hopeful that we can reach an agreement as soon as possible so that our viewers don’t lose out.”
The news comes a day after Mad Men scored 17 Emmy nominations, and AMC netted a total of 26 noms, the most for any basic cable network. Such carriage disputes have become more and more common, and having a blue-chip program at stake has helped the network threatened by yanking so far. The possibility of millions of Fox viewers missing the New Year's college bowl games pushed through a new carriage agreement with Time Warner, while ABC went dark on Cablevision for only a few hours before it was restored in time for the network's Oscar telecast. While Mad Men doesn't have the wide appeal of college football or the Academy Awards, it is still a marquee cable series with devoted following.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Carriage Dispute Threatens 'Mad Men' Debut
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