The HDNet vs Time Warner fight

High definition cable TV network HDNet is going to be dropped from Time Warner Cable by the end of the month if a deal isn't worked out. Is this like the recently resolved high-profile fight between the NFL Network and Comcast, where the cable company argues that the cable network wants too much money?

Nope.

From the OC Register:

Time Warner confirmed two weeks ago that it is parting ways with the Dallas-based high-definition TV network because the two failed “to reach terms.” Time Warner wouldn’t elaborate on the loss of the channels, which were part of the $5/month “HD Tier.” In their place, Time Warner added the Smithsonian HD Channel and Crime & Investigation HD.

But according to HDNet owner Mark Cuban (yes, he’s also the owner of the Dallas Mavericks), the deal wasn’t about the usual increase in carriage fees, which is the money companies pay per subscriber to offer a network’s TV channels. (Remember the whole Viacom fiasco when Viacom’s fee increase nearly resulted in the loss of Jon Stewart, Sponge Bob and MTV?)

“No, the exact opposite. We cut the fees considerably,” said Cuban, via e-mail.
Interestingly, Cuban says he was trying to get HDNet to become part of Time Warner’s digital basic cable package so that all customers could access the channel. HDNet Movies would remain on the special HD tier. The new deal would be “considerably less than what they were paying to have both on the (HD) tier,” he said.

In other words, Cuban and HDNet wanted to be available to a larger audience than just those who were willing to pay an extra $60 a year to get HD channels. In order to do so, Cuban says they "cut the fees considerably."

And yet Time Warner is all set to cut loose HDNet and HDNet Movies and replace them with the Smithsonian Channel HD and MavTV in most areas.

One day, all channels will be broadcast in high definition. That's just the way TV technology and the TV industry is going. In a few years, people will look back at this battle and wonder what the hell Time Warner was thinking.