No doubt there are five or six Cablevision subscribers interested in watching a World Series between the Texas Rangers and San Francisco Giants, but News Corp.'s (Nasdaq: NWSA) Fox Networks last weekend lost a huge bargaining chip in its retransmission war with Cablevision Systems (NYSE: CVC) when the favored New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies decided to take an early fall break.
The dispute between the two recalcitrants--and there's hardly a better term for it now--has gone past the one-week mark. The next major event on the menu, besides another episode of Glee (horrors!) is the World Series, which starts on Wednesday night. Fan attention might have been rabid had that included the Phillies and/or the Yankees; it will be tepid now, prompting the thought that the Dolan family might want to invest a few bucks in both of those losing franchises as a way of saying thanks.
For more:
- see this story
Related articles:
Fox vs. Cablevision: And the winner is... OTT
Cablevision-Fox dispute drives fans to drink
Broadcasters blocking content from Google TV; Fox ready for next steps with Dish