By Yinka Adegoke
NEW YORK, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Cablevision Systems Corp on Wednesday said it has made an offer to News Corp to pay for carriage of two Fox local stations at a rate equivalent to its larger counterpart Time Warner Cable Inc .
But Fox turned down the Cablevision offer for a one-year deal saying Cablevision was seeking a discounted rate usually agreed when a cable operator pays to carry a bundle of channels not individual channels.
'We have told Cablevision all along we are willing to negotiate a deal -- based on an entire suite of channels -- under the terms we have reached with Time Warner Cable and other providers, or a stand alone agreement for WNYW FOX5, WTXF FOX29 and WWOR My9,' Fox said in statement.
Fox's response appeared to scupper Cablevision's last ditch attempt to restore Fox 5 in New York and Fox 29 in Philadelphia ahead of the Major League Baseball World Series starting later on Wednesday. More more than 3 million New York area homes have had a 12-day blackout of the Fox local stations.
'We are very disappointed that we offered News Corp what they asked to be paid for Fox 5 and Fox 29, and News Corp has said no,' said Cablevision spokesman Charles Schueler in a statement. 'It is now clear beyond a shadow of a doubt that News Corp is operating in bad faith.'
Fox did not immediately respond to Reuters for a comment on the latest Cablevision offer. Time Warner Cable has more than four times as many customers as Cablevision across the country and typically that allows the larger company to negotiate a lower per subscriber rate than a smaller operator.
The battle between Fox and Cablevision had become particularly vitriolic in recent days as each side accused the other of being unreasonable.
Cablevision in particular has tried to persuade the Federal Communications Commission to get involved and mediate. While the FCC has asked for details of their negotiations to ensure they're being conducted in 'good faith,' it has so far declined to actively mediate. Instead, it has asked both sides to focus on negotiating a deal rather than 'publicity stunts.'
Earlier on Wednesday, Cablevision had questioned FCC's role in the dispute.
'We do not understand how protecting and interceding on behalf of TV viewers in 3 million blacked out households in the Northeastern United States does not fall under the FCC's purview,' said Cablevision's Schueler.
(Reporting by Yinka Adegoke; Editing by Gary Hill, Bernard Orr)
((e-mail:yinka.adegoke@thomsonreuters.com Reuters Messaging: Yinka.adegoke.reuters.com@reuters.net; +1 646 223 6081)) Keywords: CABLEVISION/FOX (Click on http://blogs.reuters.com/category/themes/mediafile/ to see Reuters MediaFile blog) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
NEW YORK, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Cablevision Systems Corp on Wednesday said it has made an offer to News Corp to pay for carriage of two Fox local stations at a rate equivalent to its larger counterpart Time Warner Cable Inc .
But Fox turned down the Cablevision offer for a one-year deal saying Cablevision was seeking a discounted rate usually agreed when a cable operator pays to carry a bundle of channels not individual channels.
'We have told Cablevision all along we are willing to negotiate a deal -- based on an entire suite of channels -- under the terms we have reached with Time Warner Cable and other providers, or a stand alone agreement for WNYW FOX5, WTXF FOX29 and WWOR My9,' Fox said in statement.
Fox's response appeared to scupper Cablevision's last ditch attempt to restore Fox 5 in New York and Fox 29 in Philadelphia ahead of the Major League Baseball World Series starting later on Wednesday. More more than 3 million New York area homes have had a 12-day blackout of the Fox local stations.
'We are very disappointed that we offered News Corp what they asked to be paid for Fox 5 and Fox 29, and News Corp has said no,' said Cablevision spokesman Charles Schueler in a statement. 'It is now clear beyond a shadow of a doubt that News Corp is operating in bad faith.'
Fox did not immediately respond to Reuters for a comment on the latest Cablevision offer. Time Warner Cable has more than four times as many customers as Cablevision across the country and typically that allows the larger company to negotiate a lower per subscriber rate than a smaller operator.
The battle between Fox and Cablevision had become particularly vitriolic in recent days as each side accused the other of being unreasonable.
Cablevision in particular has tried to persuade the Federal Communications Commission to get involved and mediate. While the FCC has asked for details of their negotiations to ensure they're being conducted in 'good faith,' it has so far declined to actively mediate. Instead, it has asked both sides to focus on negotiating a deal rather than 'publicity stunts.'
Earlier on Wednesday, Cablevision had questioned FCC's role in the dispute.
'We do not understand how protecting and interceding on behalf of TV viewers in 3 million blacked out households in the Northeastern United States does not fall under the FCC's purview,' said Cablevision's Schueler.
(Reporting by Yinka Adegoke; Editing by Gary Hill, Bernard Orr)
((e-mail:yinka.adegoke@thomsonreuters.com Reuters Messaging: Yinka.adegoke.reuters.com@reuters.net; +1 646 223 6081)) Keywords: CABLEVISION/FOX (Click on http://blogs.reuters.com/category/themes/mediafile/ to see Reuters MediaFile blog) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.