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BY LINDA MOSS
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
Cablevision and News Corp. talked briefly Monday but made no progress resolving the dispute that's kept three popular TV stations away from more than 900,000 New Jersey homes for three days, while New Jersey's two U.S. Senators called for the Federal Communications Commission to step in and end the standoff.
Rupert Murdoch's Fox broadcast outlets – WNYW-TV and WWOR-TV in New York and WTXF in Philadelphia – and the Dolan family's cable dynasty were still running dueling full-page newspapers ads Monday.
And representatives of both sides were still criticizing each other in the contract dispute that affects 3 million Cablevision customers in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. More than 900,000 of those subscribers are in New Jersey.
"Monday morning the parties talked again briefly," News Corp. said in a statement. "Unfortunately, no significant progress was made because Cablevision continues to demand preferential treatment and rejects the same fair terms that have been accepted by other providers in the market."Cablevision had its own statement.
"When broadcasters like News Corp. remove their signals, they hurt viewers in an attempt to gain business leverage," said Charles Schueler, Cablevision's executive vice president of communications. "Cablevision agrees to submit to binding arbitration, as called for by more than 50 elected officials from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut as the fastest and fairest way to return Fox programming to Cablevision viewers. We call on News Corp. to do the same."
The three TV stations were yanked off Cablevision by News Corp. 12:01 a.m. Saturday in a battle over how much compensation the cable company should pay the broadcaster for the right to carry its stations.
The business dispute has enraged Cablevision's area sports fans, who were forced to leave home in order to find a place to watch the Giants-Lions game Sunday, and are also missing the National League Championship Series games between the Phillies and the San Francisco Giants.
Cablevision's tri-state subscribers also had to find another TV provider – at a friend's house or a bar – to see the primetime hit "House" on WNYW Monday night.
On Monday Senators Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez wrote a joint letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski urging the FCC to take another stab at resolving the dispute.
The New Jersey senators in effect joined with Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), who have encouraged the FCC to take immediate action to move Cablevision and News Corp. to a prompt resolution of their dispute.
Lautenberg and Menendez, citing Cablevision's battle earlier this year with The Walt Disney Corp., which resulted in WABC being dropped briefly, wrote, "We are deeply troubled that consumers are repeatedly being used as pawns in these programming disputes."
The letter went on, "We ask that the FCC exercise all of its available authority to promptly resolve the Fox and Cablevision dispute. It is our understanding that the FCC suggested that Fox and Cablevision resolve their dispute through mediation, but Fox declined. We ask that you immediately invite representatives from both parties to meet with you and other FCC officials in order to reenergize and resolve these negotiations."
Lautenberg and Menendez also urged the FCC to reexamine its existing regulations for retransmission consent negotiations, the rule that permits broadcasters to seek cash compensation from cable and satellite companies in exchange for carrying their TV stations.
"A petition to modify these rules has been pending before the FCC since March 2010," the letter said. "We urge the FCC to work diligently and expeditiously to consider the comments that have been filed on that petition and revise its rules ... Continued delay in reforming the retransmission consent process will only harm consumers in New Jersey and throughout the country."
On Monday News Corp. once again said it will not submit to arbitration, arguing that Cablevision would never agree to arbitration in disputes involving the sports channels it owns.
"Indeed, MSG and MSG Plus recently went off the dial for millions of Dish subscribers – and MSG did not seek arbitration," News Corp. said. "Cablevision also continues to put out the false information that Fox is seeking $150 million in fees, which is simply not true. Fox continues to call on Cablevision to quit punishing its own subscribers in service of a cynical political strategy. Only serious business-to-business negotiations will protect viewers, which should be everyone's top priority."
News Corp. also pointed out that Cablevision makes make a lot of money for programming that includes the Fox stations.
"It is increasingly clear that Cablevision's real intention is to continue making this their subscribers' problem in the hope that with enough inconvenience, politicians will intervene to protect Cablevision's huge profits – nearly $795 per subscriber last year," News Corp. said.
The American Cable Association, a lobbying group for independent cable companies, Monday put out its own statement on the Cablevision-News Corp. battle.
"With Fox's boycott of 3 million Cablevision homes now in its third day, it's clear that sitting on the sidelines is not an option for the government," ACA president Matthew Polka said. "Congress and the Federal Communications Commission must intervene to protect consumers from monopoly broadcasters bent on exploiting regulatory advantages that leave cable consumers in the dark if their cable operators don't cave in to stations' blackmail demands."
According to Polka, "Retransmission consent reform won't be achieved unless broadcasters' ability to hold consumers hostage – like Fox is doing to 3 million Cablevision subscribers – and engage in naked price discrimination has been eradicated once and for all."
