Fox Broadcasting hurled the first grenade in what could be yet
another contentious carriage battle, this time with Cablevision Systems,
relaunching its www.keepfoxon.com
website over the weekend and running select ads warning customers if a
deal isn't reached soon, they could lose access to Fox programming on
Oct. 16.
According to the Fox website, the deal will actually expire
on Oct. 15 and includes three Fox broadcasting stations -- WNYW Channel 5
and WWOR Channel 9 in New York and WTXF Channel 29 in Philadelphia --
and a handful of Fox Cable networks - Fox Business Network, Fox Sports
en Espanol, and Nat Geo WILD.On
the website, Fox notes that it has agreements with Verizon
Communications' FiOS TV and with satellite provider DirecTV. Missing is
Dish Network, whose Fox deal expires in November.
The tactics are similar to those the media giant used around the turn of the year in a retransmission-consent dispute with Time Warner Cable.
However, that battle -- which was settled in January without a
disruption in service to cable customers -- involved several more
broadcast stations and cable networks.
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