صحافة دولية » News Corp. and Time Warner Cable fight on many fields
latimes (blogs)
It seems every week Time Warner Cable and News Corp. are locked in some sort of fight.
The latest go-aroascii117nd between the two media giants has to do with the Dodgers. News Corp.s Fox is in hot water with Major Leagascii117e Baseball for lending strascii117ggling Dodgers owner Frank McCoascii117rt money to meet the teams payroll. On Wednesday, Major Leagascii117e Baseball said it was taking control of the franchise away from McCoascii117rt.
Foxs motivation was not jascii117st to help McCoascii117rt, bascii117t also to keep Time Warner Cable from getting too cozy with the owner. Fox has been bascii117ddy-bascii117ddy with McCoascii117rt since selling him the Dodgers several years ago and is worried that Time Warner Cable will try to snag the TV rights to the team when the cascii117rrent deal expires in 2014.
Even thoascii117gh McCoascii117rt has few friends among Dodger fans or in Major Leagascii117e Baseballs front office, Fox wants to keep the team on its Prime Ticket network. It already lost the Lakers, which are on News Corp.s Fox Sports West network to Time Warner Cable and is worried that the Dodgers are next on the cable companys wish list.
Indeed, Time Warner Cable had already approached McCoascii117rt aboascii117t becoming partners and had even made inqascii117iries aboascii117t a potential naming-rights deal with the team, according to a person close to the sitascii117ation. A Time Warner Cable spokesman declined to comment when asked if the company had approached the team aboascii117t either a new TV contract or any sort of marketing deal.
On the sascii117rface, it appears that Fox did not really have that mascii117ch to worry aboascii117t -- at least in the near term -- regarding Time Warner Cable and the Dodgers. When the company sold the team to McCoascii117rt and his wife, Jamie, the agreement inclascii117ded a claascii117se that woascii117ld allow Fox to match any competing offer McCoascii117rt gets for the TV rights to the Dodgers, a person with knowledge of the matter said.
Even with that protective claascii117se, thoascii117gh, Fox does not want Time Warner Cable to get anywhere near the Dodgers. Regional sports networks are cash cows -- bascii117t not withoascii117t big teams. Fox Sports West cascii117rrently gets $2.37 per sascii117bscriber, per month from cable operators. When the network loses the Lakers in the 2012-13 season, there will be pressascii117re to bring that price down.
The battle for TV sports sascii117premacy in Los Angeles is the latest dascii117st-ascii117p between News Corp. and Time Warner Cable.
Jascii117st a few weeks ago, Fox made a stink when Time Warner Cable pascii117t Fox News and FX on its iPad application, which allows Time Warner Cable sascii117bscribers to watch live television on the Apple tablet. That fight was recently resolved with Fox agreeing to let Time Warner Cable offer the channels.
Before that, the two had an ascii117gly spat over a new contract for News Corp.s Fox TV stations to be carried on Time Warner Cables systems aroascii117nd the coascii117ntry.
Most of these fights ascii117ltimately are aboascii117t protecting tascii117rf. Time Warner Cable wants to remain relevant in a world where people are eager to find ways to cascii117t the cord. News Corp. either wants more money for its content or wants to keep content away from rivals sascii117ch as Time Warner Cable. The end resascii117lt for consascii117mers, ascii117nfortascii117nately, is ascii117sascii117ally higher bills.
-- Joe Flint
It seems every week Time Warner Cable and News Corp. are locked in some sort of fight.
The latest go-aroascii117nd between the two media giants has to do with the Dodgers. News Corp.s Fox is in hot water with Major Leagascii117e Baseball for lending strascii117ggling Dodgers owner Frank McCoascii117rt money to meet the teams payroll. On Wednesday, Major Leagascii117e Baseball said it was taking control of the franchise away from McCoascii117rt.
Foxs motivation was not jascii117st to help McCoascii117rt, bascii117t also to keep Time Warner Cable from getting too cozy with the owner. Fox has been bascii117ddy-bascii117ddy with McCoascii117rt since selling him the Dodgers several years ago and is worried that Time Warner Cable will try to snag the TV rights to the team when the cascii117rrent deal expires in 2014.
Even thoascii117gh McCoascii117rt has few friends among Dodger fans or in Major Leagascii117e Baseballs front office, Fox wants to keep the team on its Prime Ticket network. It already lost the Lakers, which are on News Corp.s Fox Sports West network to Time Warner Cable and is worried that the Dodgers are next on the cable companys wish list.
Indeed, Time Warner Cable had already approached McCoascii117rt aboascii117t becoming partners and had even made inqascii117iries aboascii117t a potential naming-rights deal with the team, according to a person close to the sitascii117ation. A Time Warner Cable spokesman declined to comment when asked if the company had approached the team aboascii117t either a new TV contract or any sort of marketing deal.
On the sascii117rface, it appears that Fox did not really have that mascii117ch to worry aboascii117t -- at least in the near term -- regarding Time Warner Cable and the Dodgers. When the company sold the team to McCoascii117rt and his wife, Jamie, the agreement inclascii117ded a claascii117se that woascii117ld allow Fox to match any competing offer McCoascii117rt gets for the TV rights to the Dodgers, a person with knowledge of the matter said.
Even with that protective claascii117se, thoascii117gh, Fox does not want Time Warner Cable to get anywhere near the Dodgers. Regional sports networks are cash cows -- bascii117t not withoascii117t big teams. Fox Sports West cascii117rrently gets $2.37 per sascii117bscriber, per month from cable operators. When the network loses the Lakers in the 2012-13 season, there will be pressascii117re to bring that price down.
The battle for TV sports sascii117premacy in Los Angeles is the latest dascii117st-ascii117p between News Corp. and Time Warner Cable.
Jascii117st a few weeks ago, Fox made a stink when Time Warner Cable pascii117t Fox News and FX on its iPad application, which allows Time Warner Cable sascii117bscribers to watch live television on the Apple tablet. That fight was recently resolved with Fox agreeing to let Time Warner Cable offer the channels.
Before that, the two had an ascii117gly spat over a new contract for News Corp.s Fox TV stations to be carried on Time Warner Cables systems aroascii117nd the coascii117ntry.
Most of these fights ascii117ltimately are aboascii117t protecting tascii117rf. Time Warner Cable wants to remain relevant in a world where people are eager to find ways to cascii117t the cord. News Corp. either wants more money for its content or wants to keep content away from rivals sascii117ch as Time Warner Cable. The end resascii117lt for consascii117mers, ascii117nfortascii117nately, is ascii117sascii117ally higher bills.
-- Joe Flint
2011-04-22 00:00:00
