CABL Forum - Re: Time warner news

It sounds like a contract dispute.

A contract dispute between Time Warner Cable and Fox could wind up rivaling the recent play of quarterback Jay Cutler as a source of anger for local Chicago Bears fans.

If the two sides don’t reach an agreement by the end of the year, Chicago Fox affiliate WFLD might find itself dropped from Time Warner’s cable lineup in Kenosha County, a company representative said Monday.

WFLD (Channel 32 over the air, Channel 13 on cable) broadcasts the majority of the Bears’ games.

Other Fox programming — and Green Bay Packers games — would remain visible to Kenosha-area Time Warner subscribers, via Milwaukee station WITI (Channel 6).

Negotiations strained

Time Warner spokeswoman Stacy Zaja said the issue is strained negotiations between the cable provider and Fox’s owned and operated group of stations, which includes WFLD but not WITI.

“Right now, Time Warner Cable, we feel that (Fox’s) current demands are unreasonable and excessive, especially in this economic climate,” Zaja said.

Time Warner earlier this month launched a national campaign to combat 300 percent increases that the company claims networks are seeking from cable providers, which pay programmers to air their channels.

“We’re not the only ones that face these types of negotiations and are being faced with increased costs,” Zaja said. “Certainly our competitors — satellite and the phone company — also face rising costs and the potential for dispute as well.”

Fox responds

Fox is now firing back.

A full-page advertisement in today’s newspaper warns Kenosha-area viewers of the situation, urging them to view a Web site and call a toll-free number. The telephone number switches callers to Time Warner’s comment line.

Fox representatives were unreachable for comment Monday.

The Web site advertised in the full-page Fox piece takes issue with Time Warner’s campaign, defending the compensation being sought by Fox and other programmers.

“According to (media research firm) SNL Kagan, the equitable rate Fox is proposing for all its networks is in the same ballpark as what Time Warner pays for ONE cable network, ESPN,” the Web site states.

The Web site warns Time Warner subscribers in affected markets that they could lose access to all Fox broadcast programming. That’s not true in Kenosha, a split market where WITI would remain available.

Zaja said the potential Fox blackout would not affect Fox News or Fox Sports Wisconsin, which are under different ownership groups.

Other Fox channels

Other channels that could disappear from Time Warner due to the contract dispute include FX, Speed, Fox Soccer, Fox Reality, Fuel, and Fox Sports in Espanol, Zaja said.

The controversy comes on the heels of a recent dustup between Time Warner and Chicago public television station WTTW (Channel 11), which the cable company dropped from its Kenosha-area lineup in September.

Zaja said that was a different situation, however, as WTTW did not pay program fees to Time Warner.

The cable company cited programming duplication with Milwaukee public television stations and copyright fees as reasons to drop WTTW. Negotiations to bring the station back broke down earlier this month.

Other stations unaffected

Zaja said Time Warner is not looking to pull the plug on other Chicago stations, as the Fox dispute plays out. In addition to WFLD, Time Warner also airs WBBM (Channel 2), WMAQ (Channel 5), WLS (Channel 7) and WGN (Channel 9) in the Kenosha area.

“This is not singling out the Chicago stations,” Zaja said. “This is part of the national agreement that WFLD is owned by the Fox O and O.”

Zaja said active negotiations with Fox are continuing.

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Re: Time warner news