Time Warner vs. Channel 4 in Buffalo...

It's day five of the insane standoff between Time Warner and Channel 4.

Channel 4 used to have the highest rated newscast in the market. According to Newsradio 930 WBEN, that's no longer true. And CBS did very well in Buffalo - when we were actually able to watch it!

I would be stunned if this continues into November. That's sweeps / ratings month for TV stations. Channel 4 (and its owners) would probably end up imploding by messing that up.

Although, the damage might already be done. A lot of people have now had a chance to sample the other stations' newscasts & TV shows and might just stick with them after the dispute is over. Only time will tell.

For now, here's a way you can see some of your favorite CBS shows while Channel 4 is off cable.

The following CBS shows can be seen on the Canadian CTV Network (CFTO, Time Warner cable channel 15). Normally, they're blocked out at these times because of Channel 4 running the same shows, but without Channel 4, they can now be shown...

CSI Miami: Mondays at 10pm
Criminal Minds: Tuesdays at 9pm
CSI New York: Wednesdays at 10pm
CSI: Thursdays at 8pm
Ghost Whisperer: Fridays at 8pm
Without A Trace: Fridays at 10pm
Amazing Race: Sundays at 8pm (time approximate due to sports overruns)

Because of CBS' scheduling of episodes, it's not an exact schedule - it's more of a hit and miss kind of thing. In addition to that, Channel 4 might be able to block this soon.

I thought of this CTV option after returning from vacation this past weekend to find some boring college sports stuff recorded instead of Amazing Race (a test pattern would be more exciting than that sports channel replacement). I had originally thought there was a good chance everything would be resolved by Sunday's Bills game, so I set things up to record Amazing Race the normal way. As it turns out, I was wrong.

And to make matters worse, CBS doesn't stream full episodes of Amazing Race on their website. But there are a bunch of shows the CBS website does stream: Survivor, Worst Week, How I Met Your Mother, Gary Unmarried, The Ex List, NCIS, Numb3rs, The Unit, CSI, CSI Miami, and CSI New York.