The close call seemed almost scripted. After an 18-hour blackout, WABC and Cablevision reached a breakthrough in negotiations, just in time for 3.3 million New York-area subscribers to watch the Academy Awards broadcast. The two sides had been locked in a dispute over the retransmission consent fees ABC is asking from Cablevision for the right to carry its flagship New York station. But WABC was apparently restored to Cablevision around 15 minutes into the Oscars at 8:45 p.m. The issue of retransmission consent is becoming increasingly sensitive as networks seek to make up for falling advertising revenue—Fox recently went through a similar battle with Time Warner Cable.
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