Cablevision Systems (NYSE: CVC) really wants to get the retransmission situation in front of the FCC--and, beyond that, the American public. The MSO tried a new approach in its ongoing war with News Corp. (Nasdaq: NWSA) when it offered to match the fees that Fox charges Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC-WI) for carriage of Channel 5 in New York and Channel 29 in Philadelphia for a year, even though "this is a higher rate than we pay any other New York broadcast station."
Fox shot down the offer.
"It is now clear beyond a shadow of a doubt that News Corp. is operating in bad faith," Charles Schueler, Cablevision's EVP of communications said in one of his many statements where he again pleaded with the FCC to do something about the situation, including binding arbitration.
In other Cablevision moves, the MSO said it would reimburse customers who have to pay to watch the World Series on MLB.com with a $10 credit applied to their monthly bill within two billing cycles, further encouraging subscribers to go over-the-top for content. This would have been a much more expensive gambit if either the Philadelphia Phillies or New York Yankees--both in Cablevision's subscriber footprint--had advanced to the fall classic.
For more:
- see this news release
- and this news release
- and this news release
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