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Saturday, August 3, 2013 wilsontimes.com 5A
Time Warner pulls plug on Showtime
tive to our subscribers,”
CBS said in a statement.
Time Warner Cable
According to the statepulled the plug on Showment, the markets affected
time Friday afternoon as
include Raleigh-Durham
the two are embroiled in
and Charlotte. Showtime
contract negotiations.
wasn’t broadcasting in
CBS networks were also
Wilson on Friday, but CBSblacked out in major U.S.
affiliate WRAL was airing.
markets as Time Warner
The CBS markets includand CBS, Showtime’s pared about 3 million people
ent company, have been un- in New York, Los Angeles,
able to reach new terms.
Dallas and elsewhere.
Both companies are lobCBS contends they aubying their customers.
thorized their networks to
“The service interruption continue airing on Time
is not only completely unWarner during negotiations.
necessary, but totally puniTime Warner Cable also
From staff reports
issued a statement on Friday. They said CBS has
made outrageous demands.
“We agreed to an extension on Tuesday morning with the expectation
that we would engage in
a meaningful negotiation
with CBS,” the cable company said. “Since then,
CBS has refused to have a
productive discussion. It’s
become clear that no matter how much time we give
them, they’re not willing to
come to reasonable terms.
We thank our customers for
their patience and support
as we continue to fight hard
to keep their prices down.”
The blackout also includes stations such as The
Movie Channel and Flix.
Showtime and The Movie
Channel are premium, paid
channels that cost customers additional money. Time
Warner will credit customers.
On Friday, Showtime
customers in some markets were receiving other
premium channels instead
such as Starz channel programming.
“We deeply regret being
forced into this position by
CBS, but we’re prepared
to stand by our customers
and do what it takes to fight
these unreasonable demands,” Time Warner said
late Friday.
In the city of Wilson, Time
Warner faces a competitive
marketplace for cable customers. The city is one of a
handful of municipalities in
North Carolina that offers
fiber-optic broadband cable. They also face the traditional competitors from satellite dish and the growing
trend of Internet TV.
today in history
Today is Saturday, Aug. 3, the
215th day of 2013. There are 150
days left in the year.
Today's Highlight in History:
On August 3, 1863, the first thoroughbred horse races took place
at the Saratoga Race Course in
Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
On this date:
In 1492, Christopher Columbus
set sail from Palos, Spain, on a voyage that took him to the presentday Americas.
In 1807, former Vice President
Aaron Burr went on trial before
a federal court in Richmond, Va.,
charged with treason. (He was acquitted less than a month later.)
In 1914, Germany declared war
on France at the onset of World
War I.
In 1936, Jesse Owens of the United States won the first of his four
gold medals at the Berlin Olympics
as he took the 100-meter sprint.
In 1943, Gen. George S. Patton
slapped a private at an army hospital in Sicily, accusing him of cowardice. (Patton was later ordered
by Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower to
apologize for this and a second,
similar episode.)
In 1949, the National Basket-
ball Association was formed as a
merger of the Basketball Association of America and the National
Basketball League.
In 1958, the nuclear-powered
submarine USS Nautilus became
the first vessel to cross the North
Pole underwater.
In 1966, comedian Lenny Bruce,
40, was found dead in his Los Angeles home.
In 1972, the U.S. Senate ratified
the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty
between the United States and the
Soviet Union. (The U.S. unilaterally
withdrew from the treaty in 2002.)
In 1981, U.S. air traffic controllers went on strike, despite a warning from President Ronald Reagan
they would be fired, which they
were.
In 1988, the Soviet Union released Mathias Rust, the young
West German pilot who had landed
a light plane near Moscow's Red
Square in May 1987.
In 1993, the Senate voted 96-3 to
confirm U.S. Supreme Court nominee Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
One year ago: The U.N. General
Assembly overwhelmingly denounced Syria's crackdown on
dissent in a symbolic effort meant
to push the deadlocked Security
Council and the world at large into
action on stopping the country's
civil war. Michael Phelps rallied to
win the 100-meter butterfly for his
third gold of the London Games and
No. 17 of his career. Missy Franklin
set a world record in the 200 backstroke for the 17-year-old's third
gold in London. Falling at speeds
of up to 220 mph, nearly 140
skydivers shattered the vertical
skydiving world record as they flew
heads-down in a massive snowflake
formation in northern Illinois.
Lee Rocker (The Stray Cats) is 52.
Actress Lisa Ann Walter is 52.
Rock singer James Hetfield (Metal-
lica) is 50. Rock singer-musician
Ed Roland (Collective Soul) is 50.
Actor Isaiah Washington is 50.
Today's Birthdays
Author P.D. James is 93. Football
Hall-of-Fame coach Marv Levy is
88. Singer Tony Bennett is 87. Actor Martin Sheen is 73. College and
Pro Football Hall of Famer Lance
Alworth is 73. Lifestyle guru Martha Stewart is 72. Singer Beverly
Lee (The Shirelles) is 72. Rock musician B.B. Dickerson is 64. Movie
director John Landis is 63. Actress
JoMarie Payton is 63. Actor Jay
North (”Dennis the Menace”) is
62. Hockey Hall-of-Famer Marcel
Dionne is 62. Country musician
Randy Scruggs is 60. Actor Philip
Casnoff is 59. Actor John C. McGinley is 54. Rock singer-musician
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Whirligig Park construction
A section of Douglas Street, near South Street in downtown Wilson, is closed to traffic as
city crews replace sewer lines that will service the Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park. City crews
will complete other infrastructure work, including the addition of new water lines, in future
months as preparations are made for the November opening of the Vollis Simpson Whirligig
Park, said Bryant Bunn, city engineer. The park will open in phases, depending on grants,
donations and fundraising efforts, with phase one being complete in November, prior to the
city’s annual Whirligig Festival. Phase one will include the addition of five whirligigs to the
park and an opening that will allow for public access and events. The park is located between Goldsboro and Douglas streets in downtown Wilson. Gray Whitley | Times
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Regulators close 3 abortion clinics in 3 months
RALEIGH — North
Carolina's health agency
has closed three abortion
clinics in three months for
violating health and safety
regulations, compared to
just two in the previous 14
years.
The News & Observer
of Raleigh reported Friday
its review of Department
of Health and Human Services records suggests that
while periodic inspections
at the state's 16 abortion
clinics haven't increased,
regulators are taking a
more aggressive stance.
Prior to a Charlotte
clinic's closure in May, the
state had suspended just
two clinics since 1999.
The suspensions in Charlotte, Durham and Asheville
correspond with Republican lawmakers' efforts to
tighten regulations on abortion clinics. On Monday,
Gov. Pat McCrory signed a
bill requiring state regulators to write tougher regulations, last updated in 1995.
Abortion opponents
hail the closings as proof
a crackdown is needed.
Abortion-rights supporters
argue it proves the system
already works.
The new state budget
doubles the number of inspectors to 20.
The Associated Press
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