If you are a fan of The Walking Dead, Mad Men or Breaking Bad then you have probably heard that the channel that carries these shows may not be seen on Suddenlink anymore.  Your heart may have just dropped because the season finale of The Walking Dead is this Sunday and the season premiere of Mad Men follows the following Sunday.  So what is going on between Suddenlink and AMC?

Here is a screen shot of an email I received from AMC:

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So I'm freaking out because I am a huge fan of The Walking Dead.  I want to see the season finale.

However, I am not going to get mad at Suddenlink, I love Suddenlink.  I knew there had to be more to the story than Suddenlink is just going to drop AMC.  Suddenlink wouldn't do that because they truly value their relationships with their customers.

So I did a little bit of research on why Suddenlink would drop AMC.  Here's what I found.

According to Suddenlink FYI:

The owners of New York-based AMC want a nearly 50% increase over what they were paid last year, and a greater than 100% increase in annual payments by the end of their new proposed contract.

We have asked AMC Networks to reconsider. So far, they have refused and threatened to withdraw permission to carry their channels, if we do not meet their demands.  We will continue negotiating with them, in an effort to keep these channels at a reasonable price. And we are more than willing to continue carrying AMC Networks while we negotiate.

Suddenlink wants to keep their product affordable.  In my opinion they are working for the customer.

Suddenlink has sent two different proposals to AMC and both have been rejected so please know they are trying to negotiate an agreement that does work for both their customers and for AMC.

AMC was a nothing channel, yeah, every now and then you could catch a great classic movie on the channel but that is all it had to offer.  Now it has a few great series and they want to double the price by 50%.  I understand raising your price because you now have something good to offer but 50% and a 100% increase over the year.  I think that means somebody thinks a little to highly of themselves.

In a economy where everything has gone up like gas and food and jobs are scarce, cable tv is the one luxury most Americans cling to for entertainment.  Those prices go up and that will be the first thing dropped.

Don't get me wrong, I love AMC and I don't want to see it go away, but I don't want my monthly Suddenlink bill to go up as well.

So hopefully both companies can negotiate to where we don't lose the chance to see The Walking Dead season finale.

 

UPDATE:

Suddenlink is pleased to announce that it has reached an agreement in principle on a long-term contract with AMC Networks. As a result, there will be no disruption or change to our customers’ current service.

The new agreement covers all of the channels covered under the prior agreement, including AMC, IFC, Sundance, and WE tv. Specific terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Suddenlink thanks its customers for their patience and support during the negotiations leading up to this agreement.

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