Time Warner dropping GSN in NYC

[tyshaun1]

Time Warner announced today (info at this link) that they will remove GSN effective next week. That's a HUGE blow to GSN's penetration levels, which have been stagnant at around 55-60 mil for several years now. With Valentine recent departure, things seem to be unraveling for the network....... thoughts?

Tyshaun

[Brandon Brooks]

[quote name=\'tyshaun1\' date=\'Mar 8 2006, 10:54 PM\']With Valentine recent departure, things seem to be unraveling for the network....... thoughts?

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Yep... you're being melodramatic.

Brandon Brooks

[dzinkin]

Time Warner already dropped GSN from its systems here and in nearby markets (Rochester/Syracuse/part of Buffalo), so this doesn't surprise me in the least; it's disappointing, but not surprising.

Obviously it's not good for GSN, but I'm curious to know whether GSN asked for a rate increase and was booted as a result, or Time Warner simply decided that it wanted to use the space for its own networks.  Here, after TW dropped GSN, it raised rates and then tried to soften the blow by adding Boomerang and Sportsnet New York... and somehow I'm having trouble buying TW's claim that it's merely "coincidental" that TW owns all of the former and part of the latter.

[dad1153]

Thanks for the heads-up about TWC dropping GSN from NYC.  It would have been unpleasant to wake-up next week to find the channel gone without any notice (my cable bill hasn't arrived yet).  Now I'm going to have to switch to satellite to get GSN and abandon the otherwise-excellent TWC digital package, which I've had since January of '03 and has given me nothing but joy.  I love the picture quality, menu/interface and DVR service of TWC even though they're a freaking monopoly that dominates this town's cable.  Dish TV seems to be the most affordable service to get GSN at either $49 or $89 (I'll probably get the latter so I can also keep BBC America and a few others) but I'll be losing channels that I already get on TWC that Dish bills separately for (like Fox Sports in Espanol and its many South American soccer games).  

And why doesn't Dish offer GSN with its HDTV packages?  I was going to buy an HDTV set but to get channels in HD for it I would have to choose a package without GSN.  This blows!  Direct TV seems to be much more expensive than Dish TV, is there a big difference in quality/service between these two?

[DrBear]

Just because it's unclear - is this "regular" cable, and is digital not available there? GSN is on the digital TW level here...

[dzinkin]

[quote name=\'DrBear\' date=\'Mar 9 2006, 07:11 AM\']Just because it's unclear - is this "regular" cable, and is digital not available there? GSN is on the digital TW level here...

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GSN has been on the digital tier on most of TW's systems in New York state.  Binghamton is one of the few that has/had GSN on analog, even though Binghamton's system does have digital service available.

[dad1153]

Now this is weird.  I called Time Warner customer support this morning to start the cancellation process for my services and they told me that they have not received any information of GSN getting dropped from the NYC market.  The lady on the phone told me that her computer shows GSN on the schedule throughout the month of March.  I know, these people are usually the last to know when something important happens.  Still, you'd think they know when/if a cable channel is going to be dropped in a week's time.  Could the Mediaweek article be wrong and/or refer to GSN getting dropped from Time Warner's NY basic cable package (but staying in digital, as it has been the case in NYC for GSN) instead of dropped from the whole network?  I'm confused!!!

[CaseyAbell]

A MultiChannel story that's available free in the Google news cache (search on GSN) gives quotes from Rich Cronin that indicate Time Warner really is dropping the network in NYC and Binghamton. The story says the NYC removal won't happen until May 1, so maybe that's why the lady at the service sees GSN on the schedule for a while. Binghampton might go as early as next week.

The story says Time Warner wants the space for its own SportsNet New York. No question this is a major loss for GSN: 1.6 million subs according to the story. Also, Time Warner may move GSN off the basic tier in its North Carolina system.

The New York issue seems to be mostly the TW-owned sports network. So it may not mean trouble for GSN everywhere. But it's interesting that GSN got singled out. Bad demos, no indication of a growing audience, and no clout from a powerful parent with other important channels make a nasty combination.

[tyshaun1]

[quote name=\'Brandon Brooks\' date=\'Mar 8 2006, 11:16 PM\'][quote name=\'tyshaun1\' date=\'Mar 8 2006, 10:54 PM\']With Valentine recent departure, things seem to be unraveling for the network....... thoughts?

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Yep... you're being melodramatic.

Brandon Brooks

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Wasn't losing any sleep over it, I was actually thinking about how rumors were spreading a while back about GSN being dumped altogether for a Sony "action" network. And this coverage loss news coupled with the programming head's departure, just had me thinking how much this rumor could become reality......

Tyshaun

[dad1153]

I got my cable bill in the mail and it mentions that May 1st is the date GSN will 'no longer be carried' on Channel 117. No mention is made of Channel 855, so who knows?  Maybe TW will keep GSN on 855 and only dump 117 for a cable sports channel.

Here's the name/address of Time Warner NYC's V.P. of Programming to whom we can write and ask to reconsider the cancellation of GSN from cable:

ROBERT WATSON
VICE-PRESIDENT OF PROGRAMMING,
TIME WARNER CABLE (NYC)
120 EAST 23rd STREET, 9th FLOOR
NEW YORK, NY 10010.

No phone or e-mail address is available, so get writing!

[TV Favorites]

Also, for those of you who aren't planning to cancel your cable, you may want to include a note in your next paid cable bill.  Especially if your signature matches the name on the cable bill...

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'TV Favorites\' date=\'Mar 9 2006, 06:50 PM\']Also, for those of you who aren't planning to cancel your cable, you may want to include a note in your next paid cable bill.  Especially if your signature matches the name on the cable bill...

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Do you really think the people who open your cable bill give one good goddamn about this? I assure you they are nowhere near the same hierarchy that you need to get to to elict positive change about this.

[FeudDude]

[quote name=\'tyshaun1\' date=\'Mar 9 2006, 08:11 PM\']Wasn't losing any sleep over it, I was actually thinking about how rumors were spreading a while back about GSN being dumped altogether for a Sony "action" network. And this coverage loss news coupled with the programming head's departure, just had me thinking how much this rumor could become reality......

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The only time I've heard such a rumor was when early news broke on the GSN name/image change, and people were speculating on what it could possibly be.  The actual change, of course, turned out to be a heck of a lot less drastic.  So I don't think there will be any need to worry about such a change in the near future.

[Jimmy Owen]

Besides, without New York clearance there would be no momentum to launch a new channel.  TW just wants to clear their channels and GSN is the sacrificial lamb.  Now then, if Sony invites TW to invest in GSN....

Another thing GSN could do is buy some airtime on WWOR for some of their high-profile originals during the hours My Network TV is not offering any programming.

[Ian Wallis]

Another thing GSN could do is buy some airtime on WWOR for some of their high-profile originals during the hours My Network TV is not offering any programming.

I'm sure this is something GSN has experimented with before.  I have a TVGuide from California in the mid-90s (I'll have to dig it out to find the exact edition), but there was a station listed there which simulcasted GSN programming for several hours during the day.  I was really surprised when I saw shows such as "Super Password" and "Newlywed Game" listed during the daytime hours, but they aired the exact same time they were on GSN.