Cablevision subscribers may lose Fox sports broadcast

Cablevision subscribers may lose Fox sports broadcast

New Yorkers who are subscribed to Cablevision may miss watching this weekend’s New York Giants football game because Fox and Cablevision has not agreed on a contract extension yet.

The existing contract for Cablevision’s broadcast of WNYW Channel 5 and WWOR 9 in New York, WTXF 9 in Philadelphia, as well as Nat Geo Wild and Fox Business will expire tonight.

FX, Fox News and local sports channels are unaffected by the disagreement.

If the two companies fail to reach a new deal, then about 3 million subscribers would not be able to watch the game on TV between the Giants and the Detroit Lions on Sunday.

Fox is trying to ink new deals with pay-TV companies for telecasts that were once free or available for a minimal fee.

The Dish Network and Fox are also currently in the middle of a similar dispute over broadcast fees.

News Corp., the parent company of Fox, allegedly wants at least $150 million annually for the rights to broadcast all Fox channels. Cablevision says that the amount is a huge jump from the $70 million it already pays Fox, who only says that it is seeking “fair compensation.”

Cablevision proposed to settle the matter through arbitration but Fox refused saying that the process would “reward Cablevision for refusing to negotiate fairly” and would “ensure that more unnecessary disputes arise in the future.”

The Federal Communications Commission has not stepped in to settle the issue, but FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said yesterday that the regulatory agency is concerned about the impact of the disputes on subscribers.

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Posted by Andre Monohan on Saturday October 16 2010, 8:54 AM EST. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0