Millions of Time Warner Cable customers have now gone more than two weeks without knowing which attention-starved individuals got kicked out of the Big Brother house or if the people of Chester’s Mill ever got out from under the dome (Spoiler: Maybe). Many employees of CBS have been unable to watch the shows they air if they have TWC as their cable provider (which in NYC, Dallas, and L.A. is highly likely), so Verizon is trying to reach out to them and lure them over to FiOS.

According to the L.A. Times, CBS sent out a memo to network staffers saying that Verizon was kind enough to offer CBS employees “exclusive discounts and special promotions,” and that FiOS sales reps will be visiting CBS offices in the three previously mentioned markets.

While this is all very sweet and beneficent of Verizon, it won’t be of any help if FiOS has yet to be installed in the employee’s area. This is especially a problem in NYC, where many residents live in rental apartments. This requires not only that the service be available in the area, but that the building’s owner agrees to have FiOS installed in the property.

Satellite providers like DirecTV and Dish could be an easier option, but the customer would still likely need to get their Internet service from Time Warner Cable. The same holds true for the least-expensive option of just buying a decent antenna and getting CBS over the air; you may have solved the TV issue, but TWC is still providing your Internet.

Speaking of Internet, CBS can only blame itself for blocking online access to CBS.com content to all TWC subscribers, including those who only use TWC for getting online.

What also goes unmentioned in the L.A. Times piece is that many of these CBS employees may be under contract with TWC for cable service, meaning they could be hit with substantial early termination fees if they cancel their service and switch to FiOS now.

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