And Fox News Strikes again

[Foxfyre]

(CNN) -- News Corp. pulled the plug on Cablevision customers Saturday, blacking out more than 3 million households in the New York area over a programming fee dispute.

The blackout affects Fox 5 and My9, Charles Schueler, Cablevision's vice president of communications, said in a statement.

"Cablevision is calling on News Corp. to immediately put Fox 5 and My9 back on Cablevision and submit to binding arbitration under a neutral third party to reach a fair agreement," he said.

Fox Networks is entangled in a financial dispute over programming with Cablevision. Cablevision claims Fox, which is owned by News Corp., is demanding too much money.

"In a difficult economy, it is unfair and wrong for News Corp. to demand a huge fee increase from Cablevision customers for Fox's Channel 5 and My9 -- and then threaten to pull the plug if they don't get what they want," Cablevision said in a statement.

But Fox says it deserves the money for quality programming.

"Our position in these negotiations is entirely reasonable -- we are simply asking for fair compensation for the value Fox5 and My9 programming offers," Fox said.

Cablevision says it is paying more than $70 million annually for Fox programming, and says Fox wants to bump it to $150 million. Fox would not confirm or deny the details of the finances.

Cablevision has been running ads in an attempt to appeal to subscribers caught in the middle. One of the ads depicts a woman saying, "Hey News Corp., don't make me part of your latest drama."

Sports fans could be left in the dark if an agreement is not reached soon. They could miss Saturday's Game 1 of the National League Championship Series, featuring the Philadelphia Phillies and San Francisco Giants.

It's not the first time Cablevision has found itself embroiled in a dispute over programming fees.

In March, Walt Disney Co.'s ABC network pulled the plug on Cablevision customers. As a result, subscribers missed the first 15 minutes of the Oscars telecast before a deal was struck. In January, HGTV and Food Network were restored after briefly being removed from air by Cablevision over a contract dispute.

Outside of this dispute, Fox is still caught up in its pay dispute with another network. Fox blocked 19 regional sports networks in a rate increase dispute with Dish Network at midnight on Sept. 30.

The Federal Communications Commission urged the companies to "engage in good faith negotiations" and resolve their differences.

"I am disappointed that Fox and Cablevision have not found a way to ensure that consumers could enjoy uninterrupted carriage of Fox broadcast stations on Cablevision systems," said Julius Genachowski, FCC chairman.

The companies should protect their audience's interests, he said.

Thought it interesting.

[Mikey]

I can't entirely fault Fox for this, because this isn't the first time this sort of thing has happened with Cablevision. Less than a year ago, the same thing came up with Food Network and HGTV, and before that there was another cable network group. If it was once, I could easily see it as being all due to the greed of one party or the other; now that it's the third time with Cablevision in the last three years, I have to believe that it is at least in part due to Cablevision not be willing to pay. I can't imagine why, though, because no other cable provider in the Northeast has had these issues - so there most be a pretty standardized "going rate" that no other provide has taken exception to.

[Tyyr]

Cablevision probably thinks they can get Fox over a barrel with lost ratings by not showing their shows. The customers realize though that Cablevision is the reason they can't watch American Idol though. That's happened down here in Orlando several times in the last few years. With Fox and some others. Brighthouse refused to pay and both sides started running TV ads about it. Frankly I think it's bordering on juvenile.

While Fox deserves compensation if those number are right they're going for a rate increase of 114%, not really hard to see why the cable provider might balk.

[BigJKU316]

Cablevision probably thinks they can get Fox over a barrel with lost ratings by not showing their shows. The customers realize though that Cablevision is the reason they can't watch American Idol though. That's happened down here in Orlando several times in the last few years. With Fox and some others. Brighthouse refused to pay and both sides started running TV ads about it. Frankly I think it's bordering on juvenile.

While Fox deserves compensation if those number are right they're going for a rate increase of 114%, not really hard to see why the cable provider might balk.

My guess is that depending on how long those deals run the value of Fox has jumped a ton. Fox News somewhat and the Fox network itself has greatly increased in value. Assuming it was a 5 or 6 year deal when struck last Fox has gone from 4th in terms of households watching (and a distant one from what I remember) to winning a lot of key demographics and being a solid number 2 year after year. And the ratings they offer are not so distant from what ABC and CBS put up. They are well ahead of NBC as well.

The real question is not how much more they asked for but how much they get in relation to CBS or ABC. By all rights they should get similar compensation and I would bet they are asking for something in that ballpark.

[Mikey]

It's not really a question, though - if Fox thought itself that undervalued, and wanted to hold people up for a premium, then why hasn't this problem surfaced with any other provider?

[BigJKU316]

It's not really a question, though - if Fox thought itself that undervalued, and wanted to hold people up for a premium, then why hasn't this problem surfaced with any other provider?

It has. That is why they are not on dish right now and are threatening to pull the actual Fox network and Fox News along with their sports stations.

And most Cable companies are not dumb enough to let a premium name like Fox or ESPN get all the way to being off the air. In an era where you can switch very eaisly there are plenty of people that could dump a provider so they don't have to miss shows they want to watch.

[Mikey]

The point is that Dolan has had this issue numerous times in the past, with niche networks as well as major players, while no nearby networks have had the same issues. If Fox was asking for an exorbitant amount, the Comcast (whose area of operation is directly adjacent to Cablevision's) would be having the same problem. They're not, nor did they with Food Network (like Cablevision did,) nor did they with HGTV (like Dolan and Cablevision did,) nor did they with YES (which Dolan and Cablevision did...)

[BigJKU316]

The point is that Dolan has had this issue numerous times in the past, with niche networks as well as major players, while no nearby networks have had the same issues. If Fox was asking for an exorbitant amount, the Comcast (whose area of operation is directly adjacent to Cablevision's) would be having the same problem. They're not, nor did they with Food Network (like Cablevision did,) nor did they with HGTV (like Dolan and Cablevision did,) nor did they with YES (which Dolan and Cablevision did...)

I think I agree with you that hte issue is likely Cablevision rather than Fox...is that what you are saying?

[Mikey]

I guess I'm trying to say that while Fox may not be blameless in the matter, neither is Cablevision by a long stretch.