Time Warner Cable will drop Fox TV shows
Negotiations among two sides have been mainly supported by a disagreement over the value of freedom of Fox-to-air broadcast network. Fox calls on Time Warner Cable for about $ 1 to a subscriber in payment for broadcasting rights to carry their network, according to a person familiar with the talks.Executives at Time Warner Cable has refused to pay that amount and have said that negotiations with broadcasters, as Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. and local TV stations that carry local affiliates in 25 cents to 50 cents range subscriber.
CBS Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer, who has been a great singer to get pay-TV broadcasters to pay cash for the right to carry their broadcast network, has said publicly that he expects his company to pay about 50 cents per subscriber .
Fox said that it has for the past nine months he tried to “negotiate in good faith” with Time Warner Cable, the No. 2 U.S. cable operator, which serves some 14 million customers, and said those talks are ongoing.
But there is a possibility “highly unlikely that Time Warner Cable may choose not to carry Fox Broadcasting, Fox and Fox Sports regional cable programming,” said Fox
The negotiations do not include Fox News Channel or National Geographic Channel where he has a 50 per cent.
Executives at Time Warner Cable is expected to reach an agreement before 12 January when the new season of the hit show “American Idol” returns to the air.
Time Warner Cable, confirmed that talks are underway, but said the current demands of Fox “are unreasonable and excessive, especially in this economic climate.
“We hope that Fox will not punish our customers by making their programming, while you try to reach an agreement,” said spokeswoman Maureen Huff.
Time Warner Cable is also in negotiations for carriage with The Weather Channel and Scripps Networks Interactive Inc., which owns stations such as the Food Network and HGTV.
Fox said it launched a marketing campaign to notify customers of Time Warner Cable of the possibility that they may lose access to some of his favorite hobbies and sports shows.
It follows a similar PR and marketing campaign launched by Time Warner Cable, last month, asking its subscribers to register their discontent with the demands of the developers of higher fees, which, as it leads to increased subscriptions from customers. In his campaign, claimed some developers are asking the same as a 300-percent increase.
Heated disputes over the rights to broadcast sometimes boiled, to the detriment of viewers.
Last year, Time Warner Cable had a similar dispute with Viacom, which owns MTV Networks and Nickelodeon, which was until 31 December wire before both sides reached an agreement.
But in 2000 a similar dispute between Walt Disney Co and Time Warner have temporarily left millions unable to see the Disney-ABC TV on Time Warner Cable systems. Clients only see a blue screen and a headline proclaiming “Disney has taken ABC away from you.”
Time Warner Cable is split off from its parent Time Warner Inc. in March of this year.
