• 14 number of days the cable network stalemate went on
• 3M number of customers affected by the cable stalemate
• eight MLB playoff games (and two weeks of football) went off the air source

• » Why did the stalemate last so long? Well, Cablevision wanted regulatory intervention from the government, who wanted the two companies to decide things for themselves. Usually, these things last two days, tops. And it’s possible that the long stalemate has hurt Fox’s overall ratings, which are down 17 percent from a year ago. To both of these companies: Who benefits from this?

• This is what we’ve come to as a country. The FCC, stuck in the middle of a pissing match between two of the most annoying companies on the face of the planet, actually live-tweeted a little of today’s Phillies/Giants NLCS game. Cablevision, News Corp., take notes: When you idiots bitch about money, the FCC’s going to make you look really stupid. Someone in the Obama administration’s bureaucracy knows how to land a blow with social media. Well-played. source

• The question becomes, how long is it going to last and who’s going to blink first?
• BTIG media analyst Richard Greenfield • Regarding Cablevision’s dropping of local Fox network stations from its lineup in a financial dispute. Who gets hurt when giant media companies fight over stupid crap like money? Sports fans, of course. If this isn’t resolved by Sunday, they could lose a number of football games. If it’s not settled by tonight, they could lose game one of the NLCS – especially problematic because the Philadelphia Phillies are in the series and Cablevision covers mostly Philly and NYC. We know you babies love being right and winning a war over money, but most people don’t like being inconvenienced. source

• 20 minutes into the big show,
  the Oscars popped on source

• Just before the Oscars, too! For people who want to watch WABC in New York City, get out your analog-to-digital converter. After years of arguing between one of the world’s biggest content companies and a company that just turned a well-regarded regional paper into a loss leader, ABC/Disney and Cablevison have hit an impasse. The loser? The viewers. Here’s a recap of the whining on both sides:

• In one corner: Disney “Cablevision has once again betrayed its subscribers by losing ABC7, the most popular station in the tri-state area. This follows two years of negotiations, during which we worked diligently, up to the final moments, to reach an agreement. Cablevision pocketed almost $8 billion last year, and now customers aren’t getting what they pay for…again.”
• In the other: Cablevision “It is now painfully clear to millions of New York area households that Disney CEO Bob Iger will hold his own ABC viewers hostage in order to extract $40 million in new fees from Cablevision. We call on Bob Iger to immediately return ABC to Cablevision customers while we continue to work to reach a fair agreement.” source

• In response to a question, Terry said that we had approximately three dozen subscribers who have signed up to pay $5 per week for access to newsday.com.
• Cablevision President of Local Media Tad Smith • In a memo regarding Newsday’s plan for subscriptions and Cablevision’s overall media strategy. Sure, he’s full of it and then some, but we have to admit we got a kick out of the fact he noted our subscription in the note. We’re No. 36! We’re No. 36! source

• When we read yesterday that Newsday had a total of 35 subscribers to its paywall-riddled Web site, we wondered how this could be. How could only 35 people who weren’t subscribed to Cablevision or the print product say, “I’m paying Newsday $5 a week for some of the best damn journalism to be found on Long Island!” So, we decided to find out why. ShortFormBlog is now Customer No. 36.

Subscription notes:

• one They don’t bill you right away or ask for your credit card. Instead, Newsday.com staff contacts you afterwards. This is stupid.
• two You have to give them your phone number. And the registration thing is written as if you live in New York state. We live in D.C., dudes.
• three Newsday gives you a huge list of ways you can receive news from them. This includes e-mail and SMS alerts. We signed up; hey, we paid for it!

Review of Newsday’s signup process:

• C- it clearly doesn’t understand how online commerce works source

• $635M the amount Cablevision paid for Newsday, the first newspaper the company’s ever owned
• three the number of months Newsday has been behind a strict $5-a-week paywall
• 35 the number of subscribers the site has; hahahahahahahah wtf these guys suck source