As the contract expires at midnight Dec 31, News Corp. (NWSA) could discontinue broadcasting hit programs from the Fox Broadcast Network on Time Warner Cable Inc. (TWC), with ongoing negotiations unable to find a mutually agreeable solution.
The dispute has stemmed from the disagreement on subscriber fees on Fox’s free-to-air broadcast network. While Fox has demanded $1 per subscriber for the retransmission rights, Time Warner Cable has only agreed to pay in the range of 25 cents to 50 cents. News Corp. has refused to extend the contract deadline and even declined a request from Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts. With no amicable solution in sight, Fox shows are likely to go off Time Warner Cable systems in New York, Los Angeles, Dallas and other cities after midnight Dec 31.
Time Warner Cable is the second-ranked U.S. cable operator, serving nearly 14 million customers, and provides video, high speed data and voice services across 28 states. News Corp is a diversified global media company with operations in eight industry segments: filmed entertainment; television; cable network programming; direct broadcast satellite television; integrated marketing services; newspapers and information services; book publishing; and other.
Fox Broadcasting Company is one of the leading divisions of the television segment of News Corp. The U.S. cable network operations of News Corp. primarily consist of the Fox News Channel, the FX Network and the Regional Sports Networks, while the international cable networks consist of the Fox International Channels with operations mostly in Latin America and Europe.
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