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UPDATE 1:10PM: Fox just slammed the door to Cablevision’s offer that would’ve saved the World Series for 3 million Cablevision subscribers in the New York area. The sticking point? Fox wants the the proposal Cablevision made, matching Fox’s deal terms with Time Warner Cable, to be extended to MyNetwork TV station WWOR.
We remain committed to negotiating a fair deal with Cablevision, but today’s incomplete proposal is not acceptable. Cablevision is seeking a discounted “package rate” without buying the entire package. We have told Cablevision all along we are willing to negotiate a deal – based on an entire suite of channels – under the terms we have reached with Time Warner Cable and other providers, or a stand alone agreement for WNYW FOX5, WTXF FOX29 and WWOR My9. Cablevision’s offer – sent to the press just as it was provided to us – is yet another in a long line of publicity stunts.
Cablevision immediately responded, accusing Fox of negotiating in bad faith and asking the FCC to intervene.
“On behalf of our customers, we are very disappointed that we offered News Corp. what they asked to be paid for Fox 5 and Fox 29 and News Corp. has said no. It is now clear beyond a shadow of a doubt that News Corp. is operating in bad faith. We call on the FCC to intervene immediately to restore the Fox signals to Cablevision’s 3 million homes and order News Corp. to agree to binding arbitration to resolve this conflict.”
PREVIOUS 10:40AM: Has Cablevision blinked just hours before Fox’s World Series coverage is set to begin tonight? The cable operator, which is embroiled in a nasty carriage dispute with Fox that blacked out the network in 3 million Cablevision homes, just announced that it has offered Fox the same rate the network gets from Time Warner Cable, something Fox had been asking for all along. There is only one catch, the rate is locked for one year only. Fox’s response is probably coming soon. Here is Cablevision’s statement:
“In the interest of Cablevision’s 3 million households and our mutual viewers, today we have made a new offer to News Corp. Simply put: we agree to pay the rate Fox charges Time Warner Cable for carriage of WNYW-Fox 5 New York and WTXF-Fox 29 Philadelphia for a period of one year. This is higher than the rate we pay any other New York broadcast station. This solution is in the best interest of not only baseball fans but of all Cablevision customers and Fox viewers. We look forward to a positive response.”
TV Editor Nellie Andreeva - tip her here.
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Question for the media buyers out there: Would Fox have to make good on the number of eyes they promised advertisers when they bought spots during the World Series?
excellent question, the answer is yes but fox will have insurance for this just as all large media companies have insurance for this unusual occurrence..
Even if the numbers promised are met, advertisers will make sure they get some kind of make good because a significant number of potential viewers are being blacked out.
I almost wish the Yankees were in the World Series at the moment, just to see who would cave between these two. The wrath of 3 million New Yorkers not being able to watch their beloved Yanks in the World Series would definately have one if not both of these networks running for cover.
I always love it when someone weighs in on a topic and has NO IDEA WTF they are talking about. Fox doesnt have insurance for ratings shortfall, and they don’t have to give anything back (unless they want to). The threshold for giving back money is 15 per cent of the country or approximately 18 million homes. Cablevision is about 4 million homes. So, it isnt a significant number of viewers who are bieng blacked out. Thanks for playing.
Comments like this are why I read the comments! Thanks for setting things straight.
You may be right about that, but local advertisers who placed commercials with the network MUST receive make goods. Because obviously, their commercials weren’t run.
And I believe that mainly hits local FOX affiliates (who may or may not seek relief from, or sue, News Corp).
It’d be interesting to see how much Fox is making in net profit (before bonuses and other non-operating expenses). Are they really suffering that much, or does someone just want a $100M private jet, bought off the backs of the considerably less fortunate subscribers that are getting creamed by the (possible) greed.
It’s not Murdoch greed. It’s Dolan greed.
-RnsW
How is this not a pure FOX play? The last I read, FOX was demanding much more from Cablevision than Cablevision had negotiated for the other OTA networks, also an increase from what FOX had been negotiating for from other cable providers like TWC.
The most incriminating fact is that they refuse to go to binding FCC arbitration. That sounds more like Murdoch to me…
I’m not willing to give Cablevision the benefit of the doubt. We’ve seen this act from Cablevision before. It took over a year before they came to an agreement with the YES Network. They just had the same issue with ABC around Oscar time. Now, it’s FOX’s turn. I want the Dolans and their lousy company to go away forever.
Fox recently has had a major spat with Time Warner, is currently involved with a dispute with Dish Network, and now Cablevision.
The only constant in that equation is Fox. Is it hard-nosed business or money-grubbing?
The most negative thing I want to say about Fox is that I thought the ads they put on when the dispute w/ TWC was going down, imploring TWC viewers to change providers, was low down. Fox is also doing the same thing to Dish subscribers.
Public airwaves, no retransmission fees needed. You want retransmission fees, become a cable network.
Doesn’t work like that, Sweetie-pie Miffy. Get a public antenna if you want the channel broadcasted on the public airwaves.
Otherwise you’re SOL if you want FOX on an MSO in your DMA.
-RnsW
I guess FOX is going to have to give advertisers a lot of ADU’s if they underdeliver on Demo Ratings. But I doubt their National Ratings are really affected by this blackout. If anything, the syndicators selling Ads for syndicated shows running on FOX O&O’s may feel the hit more. Especially shows like “Wendy Williams”.
Also Sony may be upset if some of their Court shows that run on FOX5 in NY do well in NY and can’t be seen due to the blackout…
So, by Cablevision’s logic, you should be able to pay for whatever pieces of a package deal you want, but at the package price. Try calling up Cablevision customer service and tell them you want cable TV for $33.33, which is 1/3 of the “triple play” price, but you don’t want phone or internet. See how far you get.
What’s going to happen to all these fools is that the consumer IS going to get a la carte options for TV viewing, in a way more pronounced than they do now with the internet. Then these companies will really find out how much people are willing to pay for their content on a PER SHOW basis. These disputes are absolutely ridiculous for consumers shelling out HUGE monthly payments for TV and every provider and network engages in them on a routine basis.
I’d have more sympathy for Cablevision in this case if, for example, AMC and it’s best show were available on DirecTV in HD…
But yeah FOX and all the others can keep pushing if they want but what’s going to happen is that the internet WILL crush this business model and this behavior will speed that along and citizen will enable the government to help it happen.
Congress is already drafting legislation to permanantly address this.
Why does News Corp always engage in behavior that ends up changing American business and communication laws (for the worse) for business?
Oh well, guess there’s no one FORCING anyone else to watch FOX programming. At best, you can go to any number of torrent sites and simply download the episode(s) of any show you might have missed.
Lost $$$ for FOX — I do not see this going their way.
Or that you’d like to buy just the eleven channels you regularly watch on a pro-rated basis rather than the hundred’s of channels they charge you for.
1st — A pox on both their houses. Fox knew exactly what they were doing in cutting off programming right when the WS and football seasons are hot. No one would have given a tinkers damn if this was done through their rerun months. And cable has played this game before with the other stations.
2nd — Where the H— is the FCC in this mess? Aren’t they supposed to be guarding the public in these affairs? So far they’ve only wrung their hands and shuffled their feet. DO SOMETHING.