As of early last Friday morning WISN-TV Ch. 12 hasn't been on the air for Time Warner Cable subscribers.

The station dropped out of the "must carry" rules that govern cable company's retransmission of local stations within local markets as they sought an increase in the payment made for retransmission of the signal. In its place, viewers have been treated to episodes of "Matlock" and other programming from the Hallmark Channel.

As the negotiations have come to an impasse and the regularly scheduled programming is gone for subscribers, both outlets have had to go into customer service overdrive.

Ch. 12 placed a number of commercials on area radio stations asking listeners and Time Warner subscribers to contact the cable company and tell them to resolve this and pay for these "popular" programs. Mentioned in the ad are "Modern Family," "Good Morning America," "Ellen" and others.

On Monday, the ABC affiliate announced viewing options for fans of "The Bachelorette."

"Time Warner Cable customers concerned about missing (Monday night's) episode of the Bachelorette have a few options to ensure they can see the finale," the statement read.

"1) Switch your television so you are receiving WISN-TV's free over-the-air signal. WISN-TV is always available for free to any television viewer. A UHF antenna works for most newer TVs. More information on antennas can be found on WISN.com.

"2) You can watch the full episode first thing in the morning. Follow the "shows" link under the "Watch ABC Online" section located on the home page of WISN.com. The complete episode will be up on ABC between 2 and 5 a.m."

Neither Time Warner nor WISN have mentioned how much money Ch. 12 and its parent company, Hearst Television Inc., is seeking, except for the cable provider calling it a 300 percent increase. Ch. 12 hasn't disputed the amount of increase but said it doesn't agree with the way Time Warner is portraying it. It would be interesting to find out how many cents per subscriber are being talked about here, but I doubt we ever will.

To clarify what has happened here: Ch. 12 and Hearst has made the decision to pull the signal off of Time Warner Cable. Time Warner has made the decision to not pay what Hearst seeks for its offerings.

One major reason may bring these two sides together – the Olympics. Here in Milwaukee, WTMJ-TV, the local NBC affiliate, will have the majority of the Olympic Games coverage in this market. But in other markets, Hearst owns NBC stations. That means the two sides may want to come to an agreement before the games begin. So, viewers here in Milwaukee may get their Ch. 12 back because of programming that isn't even appearing on its air.

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