FNC’s rate negotiations…
The AP’s David Bauder writes about FNC’s efforts to get higher rates from cable and satellite operators…(via TVNewser)
Fox claims its rival CNN frequently gets around 50 cents per subscriber, and that Fox’s fee is a bargain since Fox’s ratings have eclipsed CNN’s for five years.
“It seems like we’re probably worth at least twice as much as they are,” Fox News chief Roger Ailes told The Associated Press. “In the real world, everything is a negotiation and we’re not being dogmatic about it. But we are being dogmatic about the fact that we’re worth a hell of a lot more than we were 10 years ago when we took very low rates just to get coverage. They had pretty much a free ride for the last five years.”
The deal between Fox News Channel, which is owned by News Corp., and Cablevision Systems Corp. expires Oct. 7, or 10 years to the day Fox began operation. Cablevision has more than three million subscribers in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut in the New York City metro area.
That sounds like a resonable statement from Roger Ailes. FNC’s worth is much more now with its consistent grip at the top of the ratings. If FNC were an athlete, there would not even be much of any discussion about signing it. All of us know the worth of a top choice in the draft, akin to that of FNC. There will be back-and-forth negotiations, but at the end of the day, that new contract will be inked.
Comment by RGL — September 28, 2006 @ 8:47 pm
How much does TNT, USA and Disney Channel charge per subscriber? Those channels are always going back and forth battling for number 1 spot … FOX is like the number 8 or 9 cable network in primetime every month.. so if TNT and USA only get .70 cents a subscriber, or even less, there’s no way in hell a company like Cablevision is going to let FOX News charge 30% more then a channel that has more viewers… if you ask me, they would have a much better time selling that price if they didn’t use the “we have good ratings” statement… unfortunately for FOX, ratings is really the only thing they can tout… MSNBC can get higher rates because of the Olympics they do every other year… TNT has the NBA… USA has Tennis… FOX? All they have is ratings… that’s not enough to justify such a high rate, because ratings can change dramatically very quickly… what happens if FOX all of the sudden looses viewers? Will they give the money back to cable companies? I think not…
Comment by Nobody — September 28, 2006 @ 10:33 pm
FNC ain’t worth a penney to me. Really will t-me off if my cable bill goes up because fnc wants to play the bully card.
Comment by Stud — September 28, 2006 @ 11:06 pm
You have to remember that when News Corporation was getting Fox News Channel ready for launch, they were offering cable systems upwards of $10-$12 or more dollars per subscriber, knowing that NBC was converting America’s Talking into MSNBC, as both were getting ready for battle with CNN. Time Warner cable had to add a competing news network to go with CNN on their systems as a condition placed upon Time Warner by the FTC for their purchase of Turner Broadcasting System.
Comment by Bob — September 28, 2006 @ 11:54 pm
I seldom watch Fox but I wouldn’t want to see it vanish from my cable lineup just because I want to have a choice of news channels to go to when a big story is breaking. Sometimes Fox is the only channel on with live coverage during the weekends. But I don’t want my cable bill going up either because Fox got greedy. And if Fox gets greedy, then what about TBS and TNT and USA and ESPN and all the rest that routinely get better ratings than Fox News does? If everyone starts demanding more money, in the end it will be cable subscribers who really hurt.
Comment by Alison — September 29, 2006 @ 10:06 am
FOX News had to PAY to become competitive.. that obviously says something doesn’t it? They continue to PAY guests to appear on their programs. Just read Ailes’ last comments about being willing to give Clinton $100,000 for 15 minutes of his time but got it for free and people kept talking about it for 6 days… so Ailes will PAY anything to get what he wants. But that doens’t mean Cable Companies should bend over and take it up the *** from him… neither should customers. And I agree with #5.. if FOX get’s a buck per subscriber, then you can be damn well sure that TBS, TNT, etc. will go for even higher rates than that because they have more viewers than FOX already… ESPN already gets over $1/subscriber on most systems.
Comment by Nobody — September 30, 2006 @ 11:29 am