TWC Will Air WCBS-TV's NY City Comptroller Debate on Aug. 22

There will be a temporary truce Thursday in the CBS and Time Warner Cable retransmission disconnect in New York.

The parties have agreed to air the Aug. 22 debate among candidates for New York City comptroller on WCBS-TV between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m.

The New York City Campaign Finance Board announced Wednesday that the companies agreed to air the WCBS-sponsored debate, despite the blackout of 13 CBS-owned stations in eight markets and cable properties Showtime, TMC, Flick and the Smithsonian Channel that began on Aug. 2 

Should the parties remain apart, TWC also will air the Republican primary mayoral debate on Aug. 28, from 7 to 8 p.m. and the Democratic mayoral run-off at 7 p.m. on Sept. 23

“We are very pleased that these two institutions have chosen to look past their differences and provide all New Yorkers the best opportunity to see these important debates,” CFB chairman Father Joseph Parkes said in a statement.

Time Warner Cable posted this statement on its Untangled blog: "If you’re a NYC political junkie, you’re going to love this: Despite the CBS blackout, we will be airing the New York City comptroller and mayoral debates live on CBS channels 2 and 702 (HD). The comptroller debate will air Thursday, August 22, from 7 to 8 p.m. The GOP mayoral debate will air at 7 p.m. on August 28 and the Democratic runoff debate at 7 p.m. on Sept. 23.

WCBS-TV’s website features the following message: “Programming Note: Everyone, including Timer Warner Cable subscribers, can watch tomorrow’s night’s Democratic Controller debate at 7PM on Channel 2/WCBS-TV and CUNY-TV’s Channel 75. Channel 2 will be carried by Time Warner Cable for the duration of the debate.”