LOS ANGELES—Time Warner Cable, under suspicion for adding eight porn channels to offset new costs associated with carrying Disney content, says it ain’t so. One has nothing to do with the other. Uh-huh.
Denials aside, the suspicion was warranted, considering the reported 50 cents per 12.5 million subscribers that Time Warner will now have to pony up. The fact that the new channels were added days after the Disney deal was struck didn’t help matters.
Still, Time Warner spokesperson Alex Dudley told the New York Post that adding programs like "Manhandle on Demand" and "Penthouse on Demand" is merely a coincidence.
"The two are unrelated," he said. "We're always adding a variety of content that we think our subscribers will enjoy."
Though cynics will pooh-pooh those remarks, Time Warner has actually done nothing to be defensive about, even if the porn channels were added to pay for the Disney fare. In fact, it makes perfect sense that they should offset not just the costs but their schedule by adding programming that addresses adult needs and also is profitable.
The cable company should actually add even more adult channels and put the fear of God into Disney and all the other broadcast networks asking a king’s ransom for content that increasing resembles tap water with a few intermittent minutes of Evian.
Porn, these corporate entities need to realize—and perhaps now are—can be the great equalizer.
