As the first game of the World Series approaches, Cablevision Systems
fired off a revised offer in its retransmission consent dispute with
Fox Networks, agreeing to pay the same rate Time Warner Cable pays for
broadcast stations WNYW and WTXF for one year.
"In the interest of
Cablevision's 3 million households and our mutual viewers, today we
have made a new offer to News Corp.," Cablevision said in the statement.
"Simply put: we agree to pay the rate Fox 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. This solution is in the best interest of not
only baseball fans but of all Cablevision customers and Fox viewers. We
look forward to a positive response."
Fox's WNYW, WWOR, WTXF and a
trio of cable channels came off Cablevision on Oct. 16. Cablevision has
repeatedly called for binding arbitration in the dispute, while Fox has
insisted that face-to-face negotiations is the best path to a
resolution.
As expected, Fox did not accept the offer.
