Fox, Time Warner Cable Spar Over Contract Renewal

NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES: Fox is warning Time Warner Cable subscribers that they may lose access to the FOX network and its sister cable channels should negotiations with the cable platform over carriage renewal break down.

Fox says it has "attempted to negotiate in good faith with Time Warner Cable. Our position in these negotiations is entirely reasonable—we are simply asking for fair compensation for the impressive value our Fox programming offers."

Negotiations are ongoing for carriage of Fox Broadcasting, Fox Cable and Fox regional sports programming, but Fox has already embarked on a print, TV and online marketing campaign warning Time Warner Cable that they may lose access to the networks. 

The move comes just a few days after Time Warner Cable unveiled its "Getting Tough" marketing campaign, lashing out at "unfair programming price increases." The cable platform says that almost 400,000 people visited its Roll Over or Get Tough website and "overwhelmingly supported getting tough on programmers who threaten to hold shows hostage as they demand outrageous price increases, sometimes as high as 300 percent more than the current contract."

Glenn Britt, the chairman, president and CEO of Time Warner Cable, noted: “Our customers are letting us know that they want us to fight against rapidly increasing programming prices. We’ve heard them, and we intend to put as much pressure as possible on programmers with unreasonable demands to get our customers the best prices we can.”

This time last year, Time Warner Cable had a public feud with Viacom over carriage fees; the companies resolved their dispute at the start of the year.