Cablevision, Fox Dispute Continues

BETHPAGE: Cablevision Systems Corp. is facing a class-action lawsuit that seeks $450 million in compensation for its customers as the carriage dispute with News Corporation continues.

The complaint was filed yesterday, seeking "restitution for Cablevision’s 3 million customers who have been deprived of Fox channels, which have been replaced by Cablevision’s annoying and self-serving loop, which whines about News Corp.’s supposed failure to negotiate in good faith.”

In response to the suit’s filing, Cablevision issued a statement noting, "News Corp. is the company that deserves a lawsuit, for blacking out the World Series in 2 million New York-area homes. The [Federal Communications Commission] has all the facts and our customers are demanding that the FCC act to end the Fox blackout."

The suit comes as the World Series of Baseball kicks off tonight on FOX, which was pulled from Cablevision about two weeks ago. The platform says it will reimburse customers who elect to pay to access the live feed of the games from MLB.com. Customers who purchase the online package from MLB.com can provide a receipt to Cablevision, which will then apply a $10 credit to the subscriber’s monthly bill.

Cablevision is asking the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to intervene in the News Corp. dispute. The company says that it made a new offer to the company, agreeing to pay the rate News Corp. charges Time Warner Cable for carriage of WNYW-Fox 5 New York and WTXF-Fox 29 Philadelphia for a period of one year. "This is higher than the rate we pay any other New York broadcast station," the platform said. "This solution is in the best interest of not only baseball fans but of all Cablevision customers and Fox viewers."

News Corp. rejected the deal. Cablevision issued a statement in response: "It is now clear beyond a shadow of a doubt that News Corp. is operating in bad faith. We call on the FCC to intervene immediately to restore the Fox signals to Cablevision’s 3 million homes and order News Corp. to agree to binding arbitration to resolve this conflict."