October 25, 2012 | By Steve Donohue
Add fellow cable operator Cox Communications to the list of pay TV distributors criticizing Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) for demanding monthly fees of nearly $4 per subscriber to carry its new Time Warner Cable SportsNet channel.
Last year, Time Warner Cable signed a $3 billion, 20-year rights deal with the Los Angeles Lakers. It flipped the switch last month on SportsNet, a regional sports network that will carry more than 80 Lakers games each year. But with the Lakers season set to tip off on Tuesday, the MSO hasn't signed a single carriage deal with cable operators, telcos or satellite TV providers.
Executives at Atlanta-based Cox scolded Time Warner for demanding exorbitant fees--reportedly $3.95 per subscriber monthly--to carry ISportsNet. "I think it is extremely expensive for basically a one-team channel,"
Cox SVP Dave Bialis told The Los Angeles Times.
Time Warner Cable also has rights to games from the Los Angeles Sparks, a WNBA franchise, and the LA Galaxy, a pro soccer team. In addition to SportsNet, it's distributing games from the three teams on a Spanish-language version of the channel, called Time Warner Cable Deportes. But its most valuable programing are games featuring the Lakers, were NBA champions in 2009 and 2010.
Cox and top satellite TV provider DirecTV (Nasdaq: DTV) have asked Time Warner Cable for the option of carrying SportsNet on a sports tier. But the MSO scoffed at that idea.
"Cox and DirecTV know that there is no regional sports network anywhere in the country that is offered on an optional tier--that would be unprecedented. If Cox or DirecTV choose not to carry our networks, we and their customers will be very disappointed but we are confident there will be other alternatives for their customers to see this highly-anticipated Lakers season," Time Warner Sports said in a statement issued late Wednesday.
While Time Warner noted that it expects there will be alternatives for Lakers fans, SportsNet still lacks deals with Dish Network (Nasdaq: DISH), AT&T's (NYSE: T) U-verse TV, Verizon's (NYSE: VZ) FiOS TV and Charter Communications (Nasdaq: CHTR).
Cox's public dispute with Time Warner Cable isn't the first time that the nation's second largest cable MSO has clashed with a fellow cable operator this year over a regional sports network. Time Warner Cable went nearly seven weeks without carrying MSG, the regional sports network controlled by Cablevision (NYSE: CVC) CEO Jim Dolan, until agreeing to a carriage deal in February.
Last year, Time Warner Cable signed a $3 billion, 20-year rights deal with the Los Angeles Lakers. It flipped the switch last month on SportsNet, a regional sports network that will carry more than 80 Lakers games each year. But with the Lakers season set to tip off on Tuesday, the MSO hasn't signed a single carriage deal with cable operators, telcos or satellite TV providers.
Executives at Atlanta-based Cox scolded Time Warner for demanding exorbitant fees--reportedly $3.95 per subscriber monthly--to carry ISportsNet. "I think it is extremely expensive for basically a one-team channel,"
Cox SVP Dave Bialis told The Los Angeles Times.
Time Warner Cable also has rights to games from the Los Angeles Sparks, a WNBA franchise, and the LA Galaxy, a pro soccer team. In addition to SportsNet, it's distributing games from the three teams on a Spanish-language version of the channel, called Time Warner Cable Deportes. But its most valuable programing are games featuring the Lakers, were NBA champions in 2009 and 2010.
Cox and top satellite TV provider DirecTV (Nasdaq: DTV) have asked Time Warner Cable for the option of carrying SportsNet on a sports tier. But the MSO scoffed at that idea.
"Cox and DirecTV know that there is no regional sports network anywhere in the country that is offered on an optional tier--that would be unprecedented. If Cox or DirecTV choose not to carry our networks, we and their customers will be very disappointed but we are confident there will be other alternatives for their customers to see this highly-anticipated Lakers season," Time Warner Sports said in a statement issued late Wednesday.
While Time Warner noted that it expects there will be alternatives for Lakers fans, SportsNet still lacks deals with Dish Network (Nasdaq: DISH), AT&T's (NYSE: T) U-verse TV, Verizon's (NYSE: VZ) FiOS TV and Charter Communications (Nasdaq: CHTR).
Cox's public dispute with Time Warner Cable isn't the first time that the nation's second largest cable MSO has clashed with a fellow cable operator this year over a regional sports network. Time Warner Cable went nearly seven weeks without carrying MSG, the regional sports network controlled by Cablevision (NYSE: CVC) CEO Jim Dolan, until agreeing to a carriage deal in February.
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