Football, 'Simpsons' at risk

Source: Canadian Press

LOS ANGELES _ The Fox broadcast network has rejected an offer from Time Warner Cable to submit to binding arbitration in a dispute over fees.

Chase Carey, chief operating officer of Fox owner News Corp., says the issue needs to be settled at the bargaining table and not through a third party.

Carey told staff in a memo earlier in the day that a signal interruption was likely when the current deal over fees expires at midnight Thursday.

The company did not directly address an offer by Time Warner Cable to continue to carry its signal while talks continue.
If no deal is reached, millions of cable subscribers could lose programs including "The Simpsons" and several football games on their cable TV service.

Earlier Wednesday, Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt said the cable operator will agree to binding arbitration and any interim steps necessary to keep Fox channels on while talks continue.

"Consumers should not be held hostage during these negotiations. That's just wrong," Britt said in an interview Wednesday.

Britt disclosed such willingness in a letter to Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who had pleaded for both sides to agree to uninterrupted television for football fans "through the college bowl season." A copy of Britt's letter was forwarded to News Corp. chief operating officer Chase Carey.

If a deal isn't reached, programs that could disappear from Time Warner Cable Inc.'s lineup include "The Simpsons" and several football games, including the Sugar Bowl on Friday, the Cotton Bowl on Saturday and the NFL's final regular season contests on Sunday. Bright House Networks' cable TV systems also face a Thursday deadline with Fox's owner, News Corp.

In Florida, two television viewers filed a lawsuit Wednesday against News Corp., seeking an injunction to ensure that the Fox broadcast of the Florida-Cincinnati Sugar Bowl contest would remain on Bright House' cable system. Circuit Judge Maura Smith in Orlando did not immediately rule, saying she would first let a federal judge decide if federal court was the proper venue for the case.

Fox is arguing that it needs to be paid more for broadcast signals that are retransmitted to subscribers of Time Warner Cable and Bright House. Time Warner Cable says the demanded fees are excessive.

The dispute, which mirrors a similar battle between cable TV operators and conventional broadcasters in Canada, concerns the signals of 14 Fox-owned stations covering such markets as Los Angeles, New York, Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin, Texas and Tampa Bay-St. Petersburg and Orlando, Fla.

Stations carrying Fox programming but owned by other companies are not affected.

Besides the Fox broadcast network, six cable channels _ FX, Speed, Fuel, Fox Reality, Fox Soccer Channel and Fox Sports en Espanol _ and certain regional sports networks were also up for negotiations. Unaffected are Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network and National Geographic Channel, which is partially owned by News Corp.

"Good programing is expensive," Rupert Murdoch, whose News Corp. owns Fox, told a shareholder meeting this fall.

"It can no longer be supported solely by advertising revenues," he said in remarks that echoed sentiments being expressed by Canadian TV networks, including the CBC, CTV and Global.

In Canada, the Canadian Ratio-television and Telecommunications Commission has been examining whether conventional broadcasters should be paid fees by the cable and satellite companies for the privilege of carrying their channels. The issue is dubbed value for signal, or fee for carriage.

© Canadian Press