FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has received, and the FCC is vetting, info from Time Warner Cable on its carriage impasse with various MVPDS over SportsNet LA and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
An FCC source speaking on background said the commission had received some of the requested information from TWC, and was currently reviewing it, but added that it was expecting to receive additional information from the cable operator.
"We have provided the FCC with all the necessary information," a Time Warner Cable spokesperson said.at press time Thursday (Aug. 21.)
Time Warner Cable launched SportsNet LA in February, but a number of distributors complained about the price — some reports put it as high as $4 per sub per month — especially when combined with three other RSNs in the market (Prime Ticket, Fox Sports LA and Time Warner Cable SportsNet) and aren't taking the network or the games of its streaking 71-56 Dodgers. That has not sat well with legislators whose constituents are getting shut out of the games.
After getting input from some of those unhappy legislators, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler asked TWC for info — term sheets, contracts — saying the FCC would monitor the stand-off and intervene if necessary to help consumers.
In his letter, Wheeler told Time Warner Cable CEO Rob Marcus in no uncertain terms he has "strong concern" that TWC's actions "have created the inability of consumers in the Los Angeles area to watch televised games of the Los Angeles Dodgers."
The company countered that it was happy to have the FCC step in. "We're grateful for the FCC's intervention and happy to work with them to gain carriage for the Dodgers - that has been our goal all along," the company said in response to Wheeler's letter, which was sent late last month.
