Previously this week, Senator John Kerry sent a letter to both parties, urging an agreement before midnight last night. He was concerned that Fox programming, including college bowl games on New Years Day, would be disrupted in large markets where News Corporation owns its own stations.
While Time Warner offered to submit to binding arbitration and to keep carrying Fox's stations while talks continued, but Fox balked at Time Warner's offers. Now other lawmakers have weighed in on the matter, threatening government intervention. Texas Congressman Charles Gonzales sent a letter to both parties, saying "if customers should lose access to Fox programming [January 1st], it will be a sign that the retransmission consent process is broken, and call for swift action by Congress and the FCC to prevent further harm to consumers."
New York Congressman Steve Israel proposed both parties agree to a 30-day "cooling off period" in order to better come to an agreement. This call for a cooling off period was echoed by Brent Wilkes, National Executive Director of the League of United Latin American Citizens. Wilkes cited both parties' obligations to the "public interest," adding that the companies' actions will "force advocacy organizations like the League of United Latin
American Citizens to call for more regulation of television companies in order to ensure that consumers are not similarly harmed in the future."
Time Warner Cable spokesman Alex Dudley added "Time Warner Cable accepts the Congressman's proposal and urges Fox to do the same. Our customers should not be held hostage over a business negotiation and we implore Fox to not make America’s living rooms a corporate battleground."
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski also issued a statement on the matter, saying "I have urged Fox and Time Warner Cable to agree to a temporary extension of carriage if they do not come to terms on a new carriage agreement today, in order to prevent disruption to their viewers. Companies shouldn’t force cable-watching football fans to scramble for other means of TV delivery on New Year’s weekend." Time Warner responded, adding "We wholeheartedly agree. We’ve offered reasonable compensation, agreed to carry Fox while we work out a deal, and agreed to binding arbitration. We’ve done everything we can to reach a fair agreement, and now it’s really up to Fox."
Last night, as the deadline loomed, Fox agreed to what Time Warner officials are calling a "brief extension" of their carriage agreement while talks continue. Overnight, a Twitter list of Time Warner officials has indicated negotiations are slogging along hour-by-hour while Fox channels remain on the system. At 11:30 AM, Time Warner Cable Director of Digital Communications Jeff Simmermon tweeted saying Time Warner was "still negotiating."
Meanwhile, Time Warner Cable has also been granted a temporary extension with Scripps Networks Interactive for continued carriage of Food Network and GAC, according to Twitter. While we previously knew that Food Network was on the bubble, this is the first time we had heard GAC was also on the bubble. It is not known whether HGTV is also at risk, but negotiations are continuing.
In a shocking related development, Scripps has pulled Food Network and HGTV off cable systems owned by Cablevision, after a similar dispute went unresolved and unextended. Even more shocking is Cablevision's terse response, saying in a statement "We are sorry that Scripps' current financial difficulties are making it impossible for them to continue our relationship on terms that are reasonable for Cablevision and our customers. We wish Scripps well and have no expectation of carrying their programming again, given the dramatic changes in their approach to working with distributors to reach television viewers."
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Do the math, if Murdoch gets
Do the math, if Murdoch gets his way as contracts come due @ $1 for OTA Fox and say $2 for the other six with 52+ million cable customers that is 156+ million per month and 1.5 billion + per year not including the other Fox cable networks.
The programmers lack of foresight will cause more of these disputes and will cause a culling of the heard of video programmers we see that already with the lame Fox Reality net going dark.
If worried, just say no to
If worried, just say no to Time Warner. You have other options, including free OTA. My OTA Fox stations were crystal clear in HD yesterday for the Football games. You are paying huge monthly fees now, so what is an additional $10/ month to get all of your major affiliates?
Bill