Time Warner May Drop Fox Shows

With ongoing negotiations unable to find a mutually agreeable solution, News Corp. (NWSA - Analyst Report) has warned its viewers that Time Warner Cable Inc. (TWC - Analyst Report) could discontinue to broadcast hit programs from the Fox Broadcast Network such as “American Idol” and NFL Football. 

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. Although a series of negotiations have failed to provide a win-win solution, viewers expect an early end to the cable network dispute before the next season of “American Idol” that starts on Jan 12. Time Warner Cable is the No. 2 U.S. cable operator, serving nearly 14 million customers. 

Time Warner Cable provides video, high speed data and voice services across 28 states in the U.S. 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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