Andre Yoskowitz
30 Dec 2009 16:31
Time Warner Cable and Fox are unlikely to reach a deal, says News Corp. COO Chase Carey, meaning tens of millions of Time Warner subscribers will not receive Fox programming starting January 1st, missing such draws as the Sugar Bowl and popular shows such as Family Guy.
Fox is asking that the cable company pay $1 per subscriber per month for use of Fox and 14 other channels, a giant increase from current licensing fees.
"At this time, it looks like we will not reach an agreement and our channels may very well go off the air in Time Warner Cable systems at midnight tomorrow, December 31," says Carey. "We deeply regret that millions of Fox customers will be deprived of our programming, but we need to receive fair compensation from Time Warner Cable to go forward with them."
When asked about a binding arbitration deal that Time Warner wants to delay the blackout, Carey says: "Some may ask why Fox isn't providing an extension while negotiations continue--the fact is that we've been trying since the summer to negotiate a fair deal and that further extensions simply extend the period of time that Time Warner profits from our marquee programming without fairly compensating Fox for it."