Cable Dispute: Regis Disappears

By Stephen M. Silverman

Thursday September 24, 1998 12:00 AM EDT

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Disney, which owns ABC, and Time Warner Cable (Time Warner is the parent of PEOPLE) failed to come to terms over transmission of the network's signal at one minute after midnight this morning. This resulted in some 3.5 million Time Warner Cable customers across the country -- including key markets in New York, Texas, North Carolina, California, Ohio and Pennsylvania -- losing their ability to watch ABC. At issue is money and Disney's desire that Time Warner carry additional Disney channels on its systems. The timing could not have been worse for some: May sweeps begins tonight, and that includes ABC's celebrity version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." Word has it that Dana Carvey steals much of tonight's program with his mean imitation of the show's host, Regis Philbin.