Really?: When Your Favorite Shows and Network Suddenly Disappear

This morning I'm still wondering what happened next to Dexter Morgan and his sister Deb in my guilty pleasure show "Dexter."  You see I didn't get to see it last night because somebody is having a fight. Hmmm.

It never occurred to me that one of my major television networks would one day be unavailable to me for an extended period of time; missing for a few hours maybe, but never for a few days. So last night I was a little ticked off when I realized that I actually wouldn't be able to watch "Dexter" (which is heating up in its final season) and new breakout hit "Ray Donovan" with Liev Schreiber and Jon Voight on Showtime because my cable carrier Time Warner Cable (TWC) was in the middle of a fight with CBS.  The fight, a breakdown in negotiations, got ugly on Friday when Time Warner Cable pulled CBS and the cable networks owned by CBS, including TMC and Showtime (home of "Dexter"), in a few major markets. It was a drastic move that seems to have been in the making for a while now.  Reports reveal that a total of three million viewers lost The Eye Network in markets based in New York, Los Angeles and Dallas when this fight took a turn for the worse at the start of this weekend.

I was in the middle of watching a Showtime movie on Friday when suddenly the program went off the air at 5:04pm and was replaced by a statement explaining the loss of programming.  From what I gather, this is a fight over money, specifically retransmission fees; a fee that cable companies have been forced to pay to broadcasters.  The two companies were supposed to reach an agreement a few months ago in June but have been negotiating.  This is the first time CBS has ever been taken off the air in the middle of retransmissions negotiations.  I've read that TWC subscribers will not be charged for this interrupted service, but it's still annoying to be caught in the middle. 

"Our Take" On Arise TV

For me this is a double blow since two of my favorite shows, "Dexter" and "Our Take," are off the air for a while. A few weeks ago "Our Take," along with two other shows, was taken off of the Arise TV schedule.  Arise network is retooling a few things and hopes to have the shows up and running later this year.

"Our Take," hosted by Christina Brown, had found an audience and established its voice both in the US and abroad.  When our staff got the news that we would stop production immediately we were surprised but understood.   Launching a show is hard work and launching a network is even harder; just ask Ms. Oprah Winfrey. OWN, the network she co-owns with Discovery Communications, launched in January 2011 and only became profitable this year. During the last two years OWN's programming has been revamped several times.

"Our Take" hopes to be back on the air in the fall. I plan to wait for Showtime to get back on air since I miss "Dexter." My hope is that you'll miss "Our Take" just as much and wait for our new episodes to come back, too.  For now check out past full episodes of "Our Take" on my YouTube channel, and stay tuned.

And of course, thanks for all your support!

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Courtesy: Debbie Mitchell

TV/Social Media Producer Debbie Mitchell is an Emmy nominated producer who is a member of the Producers Guild of America (PGA).  She is currently a member of the James Beard Broadcast and New Media Awards Committee.  If you have a story idea  for "Our Take" or are a brand interested in Social TV, blogger outreach campaigns, or a blogger or personality interested in television placement follow Debbie Mitchell @SocialTVDeb and/or email SocialTVDeb@gmail.com

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