newjerseynewsroom.com

BY LINDA MOSS

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Cablevision and the owners of Food Network and HGTV were back at the table negotiating Wednesday, trying the resolve a contract dispute that has left 900,000 customers in New Jersey without the two cable lifestyle channels since New Year's Eve.

Just after 6 p.m. Wednesday Scripps Networks Interactive, the owner of Food Network and HGTV, issued a statement about the resumption of talks between the warring programmer and the cable company.

"We reached out to Cablevision and had a constructive meeting today (Wednesday)," Scripps said. "We made some progress and we continue to hope that we can move this discussion forward."

The carriage deal between Scripps and Cablevision expired at midnight Dec. 31. The two networks went black on Cablevision's systems at that time, impacting 3.1 million customers in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut, with 900,000 of them in the Garden State.

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Behind the Food Network/HGTV cable conflict

Cablevision has a large presence in north and central Jersey, serving all of Passaic County and parts of Bergen, Morris, Essex, Monmouth, Ocean, Warren, Sussex, Mercer, Somerset and Middlesex counties. The state's largest city, Newark, is served by Cablevision, as is Hackensack.

Cablevision released a statement Wednesday about the resumption of talks.

"We met and we appreciated the opportunity to discuss these issues with Scripps," the cable company said. "We can't comment specifically on the negotiations, except to say we again asked Scripps to return its programming to their viewers and unfortunately they did not agree."

The battle between Cablevision and Scripps has been public and nasty. The programmer has been running full-page ads in New Jersey and New York newspapers critical of the cable company.

On Wednesday, Cablevision took the same tack, running full-page ads in local papers. In the ad, the cable company claimed that Scripps is seeking what amounts to a $20 million annual price increase. Scripps denies that claim.

Cablevision's print ad also gives customers the Scripps' phone number on Knoxville, Tenn., and suggests they tell Scripps Networks chairman and CEO Ken Lowe "to put Food Network and HGTV back on Cablevision while we work on a deal that is fair for everyone."

As the dispute drags on, Scripps has found an alternative outlet for some of its Food Network and HGTV programming.

It announced Wednesday that Food Network and HGTV are teaming up with two local TV stations, WPIX-TV in New York and WTXX-TV in Hartford, Conn., to bring Cablevision subscribers the chance to view two encore presentations from the networks' weekend programs. Tribune Broadcasting, which owns WPIX and WTXX, also holds a minority stake in Food Network.

Viewers in the New York Tri-State area will be able to see the culinary competition "Super Chef Battle: An Iron Chef America Event" in a special, one-time airing Jan. 10 from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. on WPIX-TV (New York's Channel 11) and on WTXX-TV (Hartford's Channel 20).

The special episode, which premiered on Food Network Jan. 3, stars Mario Batali, Bobby Flay and Emeril Lagasse and White House Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford in a culinary competition.

HGTV fans will also see "HGTV Dream Home 2010 Tour" in a special one-time airing Jan. 8 at 3 p.m. on WPIX.

"We have the greatest fans in the world," Food Network president Brooke Johnson said in a prepared statement. "Nobody likes the situation, with Cablevision customers being the only viewers in the country who can't watch our networks as we introduce a number of new special and series in January. These encore presentations are just a small way to say ‘thank you' for their support and understanding while we do everything we can to get our networks back on Cablevision."