Fox, TWC Agree To Retrans Deal

This story has been updated.

Fox and Time Warner Cable reached a retrans agreement in principle Friday, but terms of the deal were not disclosed, reports AP. Fox had threatened to force Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks to drop the Fox broadcast signal from 14 of its TV stations and six of its cable channels.

Sen. John Kerry had wanted the Federal Communications Commission to step in and force Time Warner Cable to carry Fox TV stations and cable networks if Time Warner Cable and Fox did not come to an agreement.

On Wednesday, Time Warner Cable said it would submit to arbitration -- and if that didn't work, would agree to an interim agreement while it hammered out a deal with Fox.

Fox asked for a hefty $1 a cable subscriber per month for its TV stations, according to executives. Time Warner had said programmers like Fox that ask for 300% increases are not playing fair, especially in a recession. Time Warner has reportedly offered Fox a deal based on 30 cents a subscriber.

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Broadcast executives believe Fox's programming is comparable or better than content on cable networks, such as ESPN. ESPN commands $4 a cable subscriber from cable systems.

In ruling out arbitration, Carey -- in a letter to Kerry on Wednesday -- said that "binding arbitration often looks to the past, not the future. This past has helped get the business where it is today, with an extremely powerful and profitable cable industry and a broadcast industry that is struggling to stay afloat."

He added: "We are simply seeking fair compensation for content that has helped fuel their ever-increasing profit margins of the cable industry."

Recently, a statement from Walt Disney Co. released to the Los Angeles Times backed much of what Fox is doing. It said cable operators don't pay much for actual programming networks -- in aggregate around $25 a month -- but that it charges cable consumers around $70 a month. Much of this comes from adding in extra broadband and phone services.

Kerry previously wrote a letter to Fox's Carey and Time Warner Chairman and CEO Glenn Britt asking the two parties to solve their differences -- especially in light of big college football Bowl Championship games that Fox will begin airing Jan. 1.

1 comment about "Fox, TWC Agree To Retrans Deal".
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  1. David Gadarian from MostMost, January 4, 2010 at 12:27 p.m.

    Big winner in all this: The NFL
    Big Loser in all this: non-O&O affiliate stations for FBC, ABC, CBS and NBC
    http://www.mostmost.net/2010/01/02/ringing-in-the-new-year-with-a-higher-cable-bill-courtesy-of-fox-and-time-warner/

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