> Turns out the broadcasters aren't all bad guys--or maybe they're just greedy. The Big Three networks--ABC, CBS and NBC--have blocked access to their websites on Google TV and Fox is considering doing the same. As Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) gets into the TV business it might want to take note of what's going on with Cablevision Systems (NYSE: CVC) and Fox Networks. Then run like crazy back to the Internet. Story.
> Speaking of Fox, while everyone has been watching the game of chicken being played with Cablevision, the programmer's ongoing dispute with Dish Network (Nasdaq: DISH) has been pushed to the back of the media barn. Well, expect that to liven up again pretty soon. Having pulled its cable networks from the satellite provider, Fox is now working on retrans deals for its broadcast nets that expire November 1. Story.
> As everyone at Cable-Tec Expo and to some extent the CTAM Summit this week wrung hands and shed tears of fear over the incursion of Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) into the cable space, Netflix's own CEO Reed Hastings admitted during an investor call that the over-the-top provider has its own fears from cable. While "we are a huge ally, drive a lot of data adoption, larger plans, and so we're very aligned" with cable on the data side, "on the video side, we are mostly competitors" and that could cause some serious problems, he admitted. Story.
> Perhaps as a northern neighbor precursor to whether Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) can continue to spend about $30 billion for NBC Universal, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC, the Canadian version of the FCC) will say yea or nay on Shaw Communications' (NYSE: SJR) bid to buy Canwest's slate of television stations and cable channels. Story.
And finally... you didn't think you'd get through a newsletter without some deeper reference to the Cablevision-Fox Networks dispute. It's now predictably seeping down into opposition to Comcast's NBCU merger because, of all things, Hulu was involved when Fox temporarily--and some might say unwisely--blocked Cablevision subscribers from accessing its online content. Story.