Post by Queen of the Damned on Jan 1, 2010 21:00:20 GMT -5
News Corp. and Time Warner Cable Inc. have agreed on a new contract that will allow Fox stations to continue being carried on Time Warner systems in roughly 13 million homes, according to CNN.
Fox and Time Warner extend negotiations, avoid blackout
The agreement averted a blackout that had many college football fans fearing they would have to scramble to see their favorite games. Fittingly, the announcement came just before kickoff of the Sugar Bowl between the Florida Gators and Cincinnati Bearcats.
"We're pleased that, after months of negotiations, we were able to reach a fair agreement with Time Warner Cable — one that recognizes the value of our programming," Chase Carey, deputy chairman of News Corp., said in a statement.
"We're happy to have reached a reasonable deal with no disruption in programming for our customers," said Glenn Britt, chairman of Time Warner Cable.
The deal came after long negotiations that went beyond the Dec. 31 deadline. News Corp., the parent company of Fox, demanded Time Warner pay a monthly $1 fee per subscriber in order to have Fox's broadcast network and cable channels carried on the cable operator's system.
Check out Fox's upcoming programming in our Winter TV Preview
When Time Warner began negotiating for what it believed to be a fairer price, Fox threatened to pull the plug on its channels at midnight New Year's Eve. The Federal Communications Commission urged both parties to extend their contracts to avoid the blackout, and the negotiations continued well into Friday.
The details of the new contract were not disclosed. The two parties presumably met halfway on the subscriber fee, as an executive who spoke to The New York Times on condition of anonymity said Time Warner thought a fee of 30 cents per subscriber was more reasonable.
Cablevision subscribers weren't so lucky: In a separate fee dispute, Cablevision Systems Corp. failed to reach a deal with Scripps Networks Interactive Inc. As a result, HGTV and Food Network will no longer be carried for the cable operator's 3.1 million customers in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
www.tvguide.com/News/Fox-Time-Warner-Deal-1013365.aspx
That could have sucked!