FNC vs. Cablevision…
TV Week’s Marrianne Paskowski writes about the impending showdown between FNC and Cablevision as the first skirmish in FNC’s carriage renewal campaign…
In the bigger picture, Cablevision with its 3 million subscribers is small potatoes compared with Comcast Cable Communications and Time Warner Cable, the nation’s two largest MSOs. But they aren’t up for renewal yet.
And there is absolutely nothing predictable about the Dolan family, which runs Cablevision, so expect some surprises-the family never fails to deliver on that front. First it was father pitted against son as Chairman Chuck Dolan and his son, President and CEO Jim Dolan, were publicly at odds over the fate of Voom, a satellite service that the elder Dolan wanted to launch and maintain against the wishes of his son, who convinced the board to deep-six the service.
Then just two years ago, Cablevision did an about-face after announcing it would take the company private. Well, they changed their minds. Again.
So stay tuned. This battle of the wills will provide more twists and turns and for better or worse will set the stage for Fox’s upcoming negotiations with the big dogs: Comcast and Time Warner. The game is already in progress.
Wonder if Time Warner Cable will give FNC the buck they want. Something tells me if TWC doesnt give FNC what it wants, murdoch will yank some of the Time Warner channels off Direct tv.
Comment by Stud — October 2, 2006 @ 11:03 am
Marianne got it right when she said “battle of the wills”.
FOX will get what they want because Cablevision can’t afford to lose most of their subscribers.
Comment by Mel — October 2, 2006 @ 11:29 am
We have become familiar with tough negotiating talks like this. Fox, obviously, has more ammunition to bring to the table this time, in contrast to 1996 when Roger Ailes made that daunting launch. We hope there will be a coming together of minds, despite the fickleness on the part of Cable Vision as described in this report. A lot of people cannot afford to lose Fox.
Comment by RGL — October 2, 2006 @ 12:48 pm
The cable companies can make it an extra, like HBO and Cinemax, can’t they?
Comment by erljr — October 2, 2006 @ 2:05 pm
FNC is not an auxiliary channel, like HBO or Cinemax.
Comment by Asha — October 2, 2006 @ 2:15 pm
What exactly makes HBO an “auxillary” channel, Asha? Some cable systems offer several of your auxillary channels as a package. The cable system I have currently give me the no-commercial Disney channel with its expanded basic deal. Are you saying there is some law forbidding cable systems from passing costs onto consumers? They could charge $1 for FNC, 55 cents for CNN, and 25 cents for MSNBC, can’t they? What is this auxillary law?
Comment by erljr — October 2, 2006 @ 2:38 pm
Erljr, I may spend $ to get you a dictionary.
Auxiliary is not spelled “auxillary”. There are no such terms as “auxiliary law”. I was simply pointing out the validity of FNC charging $1 from consumers because it is a channel watched by those trying to get their news - it’s a lifeline for most people. Whereas, HBO and Cinemax are simply entertainment channels.
Comment by Asha — October 2, 2006 @ 3:17 pm
I don’t think CV was hurt that much the year they refused to sign a contract for the then new Yes (Yankees) Sports Network.
I sure some might walk but I doubt that many people will cancel cause they can’t watch FNC. Remember some people have no other option but Cablevision cause they can’t switch to a dish based service.
Comment by IceMan — October 2, 2006 @ 3:52 pm
Cablevision lost several thousand customers because of the YES situation a few years ago. Most have since returned. You should know that Cablevision has about 70% digital cable penetration so Cablevision could probably strike a deal that involves moving FNC to digital only. However, knowing FOX, they won’t have any part of that. But if they only lost a couple thousand customers because of the Yankees, I don’t see them losing many because of FNC… especially since the overwhelming majority of people in this area that I have talked to don’t care either way if it’s carried, but they don’t want rates increased because of it… so, if there’s a choice, most would want Cablevision to dump the channel before raising prices.
Not only that, but this is a very democratic area, so most people don’t even watch it anyway. So even if FOX gets dumped on Cablevision, it won’t hurt their ratings very much… Cablevision is just a small portion of the whole… now if Comcast or TimeWarner dumps FOX… then it will be interesting to see how much of a ratings hit FOX takes while they’re off the air…
Comment by Nobody — October 2, 2006 @ 5:13 pm
“FNC is not an auxiliary channel, like HBO or Cinemax.”
Asha,
I could correct your bad grammar; but why? Your auxiliary theory has fallen apart with the last few posts. Every channel is an auxiliary channel by your own premise and reasoning. In the city I’m working in right now, the cable system has dropped MSNBC. A couple months ago I was in a town whose cable system has never carried FNC or MSNBC. There are people in the United States who get by without 40 channels; and there are people in the United States who get by without any TV at all. And I bet a good number of those people do know what is going on in the world.
Comment by erljr — October 3, 2006 @ 4:37 pm
Nobody: where do you live? Cablevision is dominant in Bergen county, NJ and all throughout Long Island, and there’s a ton of Republicans that live there.
Comment by Clara — October 3, 2006 @ 11:28 pm