Disney May Pull ABC From Bigger Cable Rivals Next

Walt Disney, fresh from a dispute with Cablevision, may be about to do it again with bigger cable operators, analysts said.

Disney's agreement with Time Warner Cable ends in August. Time Warner Cable has already put its 13 million viewers on alert, noting in an e-mail to subscribers yesterday that they haven't lost access to the signal "yet." Larger rival Comcast Corp., whose contract for ABC isn't up this year, also will face off with CBS Corp. at the end of 2010 as more broadcasters seek payment for channels that used to be free. "As the broadcast networks are less able to get advertising revenue, they're turning to the cable guys to make up for that shortfall," said Todd Mitchell, an analyst with Kaufman Brothers. "For the cable guys, these programming costs are vastly outstripping their subscription pricing, so we're getting to the point of showdowns."