cj9788
09-21-06, 09:37 AM
(Broadcasting & Cable) (http://www.digitalvideoediting.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=67536) _ Fox News and Cablevision are headed for a showdown over the network's campaign to secure substantial increases in its license fees to cable and satellite TV companies. The news network is taking a characteristic hardball approach to the negotiations, with News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch personally calling out Chuck Dolan for a fight.
Fox News says it is looking to boost its license fees from around 30 cents per subscriber monthly to $1, arguing that if its audience is double that of rival news network CNN, its license fees should be as well. That's a massive hike, especially at a time when operators are trying to clamp down on programming cost increases because they can't readily raise basic cable rates.
Fox News went to war when it started the channel. Murdoch's general aversion to government interference into the affairs of business didn't stop him from enlisting the City of New York in a battle to secure carriage on Time Warner's Manhattan system
Fox News says it is looking to boost its license fees from around 30 cents per subscriber monthly to $1, arguing that if its audience is double that of rival news network CNN, its license fees should be as well. That's a massive hike, especially at a time when operators are trying to clamp down on programming cost increases because they can't readily raise basic cable rates.
Fox News went to war when it started the channel. Murdoch's general aversion to government interference into the affairs of business didn't stop him from enlisting the City of New York in a battle to secure carriage on Time Warner's Manhattan system