Altice-owned Suddenlink and Optimum customers have lost access to the Starz network in the first of what will be many carriage fee feuds in the new year. Executives at Altice and Starz were apparently incapable of negotiating new terms fairly, and now are engaged in a public spat over the latest carriage dispute. Users in our forums say that Starz has been contacting customers at both cable companies, urging them to complain to their cable provider.
Altice, meanwhile, blames Starz for the standoff and is directing users to access Starz content through the
optimum.net/Starz portal.
"Given that Starz is available to all consumers directly through Starz' own over-the-top streaming service, we don't believe it makes sense to charge all of our customers for Starz programming, particularly when their viewership is declining and the majority of our customers don't watch Starz," Altice said in its statement. "We believe it is in the best interest of all our customers to replace Starz and StarzEncore programming with alternative entertainment channels that will provide a robust content experience at a great value."
With net neutrality rules dead, consumer advocates worry that companies will increasingly block access to online streaming versions of their programs during these disputes. Days before the blackout, Starz issued a statement claiming that Altice was being unreasonable.
"...Rather than negotiating in a meaningful way, Altice is demanding a totally unreasonable agreement unlike anything that has previously existed in our longstanding partnership," Starz said last week. "We urge them to join with us in working to reach an agreement that is fair, reasonable and operates in the best interests of our customers, many of whom cannot otherwise find programming that speaks directly to them."
Traditionally, these feuds are a lose/lose scenario for customers, who not only lose access to content they pay for (with no refunds), but get abused as PR pinatas as each side tries to argue it's the other guy that's being greedy. It's one of several reasons that customers are increasingly cutting the cord and looking for cheaper, more flexible online alternatives to the traditional bloated cable bundle.