Food Network and Cablevision Play the Blame Game

Hello again!

Over the past 24 hours, I have relentlessly been brainstorming ideas about future postings so my head is absolutely EXPLODING at the moment. I am super excited to share them with you (once I get the chance to sit down and write them, of course) as well as hear your thoughts and criticisms.

But now that I do actually have a moment to breathe and write to you, I thought there’d be no better topic to address than the current Food Network/ Cablevision situation.

As a five year Food Network devotee who is also committed to a contract with Cablevision, this little spat that the two companies are having is, above all, extremely frustrating.

On December 31, 2009, I received an e-mail from Food Network stating that there was a possibility that Cablevision viewers would no longer be able to watch the Food Network on TV as of the new year, 2010. Well, the warning was just a little too late- I woke up the next morning, grabbed a cup of coffee, turned on the TV, and flipped to channel 66. However, instead of being greeted by one of the oh so familiar Food Network faces that I’ve grown accustomed to, I was presented with a generic message issued by Cablevision that was accompanied by a rather insensitive narration. In layman’s terms, it basically said, “It’s not our fault, so don’t blame us”.

Oh yeah, and did I mention that they kept playing that lovely message on a loop?


Don’t get me wrong, I am by no means devastated by the Food Network’s absence. (No, I am not curled up in the fetal position tearing my hair out if that’s what you are picturing). My eyes are completely dry as I write this to you, I promise. All I am trying to say, to which I’m sure many of you can relate, is that this is a major inconvenience, annoyance, and display of inconsideration on both companies’ behalves.

Of course, for example, I miss being able to run on the treadmill while watching Food Network- I mean who doesn’t like to watch Paula Deen frost a cake that contains an entire pound of butter in and of itself while you’re simultaneously running at five or six miles an hour and sweating like pig? (And before you even think of laughing at me for this exercise ritual, just think of how many times you’ve been guilty of the same crime . . . that’s what I thought.) But that is hardly the bulk of it.

What bothers me most about the whole ordeal is the way in which it’s become a finger-pointing smear campaign. Really now, I thought we finished playing that game when Obama beat McCain in the 2008 Presidential Election. Please tell me I am not mistaken.

Now, when I go to open up my morning newspaper, I am not shocked to find a full page ad by Food Network bitching about Cablevision's unwillingness to compromise. And I’ve seen this level of immaturity from the Food Network persist as they are still spamming my e-mail with more complaints about their good friend Cablevision.


So now, I think it’s time that I leave you to marinate in what you have just read- but not without one more quick assertion.

Dear Cablevision and Food Network,

Grow up, children. Grow up.