Cablevision has accused Viacom in an antitrust lawsuit of forcing it to pay for more than a dozen low-rated cable networks in order to get access to Viacom's more popular channels such as Nickelodeon, MTV and Comedy Central, the latest flare up between distributors and program makers.
Dish Network reached an agreement with Fox on Friday, ending a blackout of some channels and ensuring customers will keep getting the World Series. So far, Cablevision subscribers are still out of luck.
News Corp. rejected Cablevision's retransmission price offer for Fox's New York and Philadelphia television stations, prompting Cablevision to solicit regulators to restore Fox TV signals to 3 million Cablevision subscribers in the Northeast.
Millions of sports fans in the Northeast are in danger of missing the World Series and other programs in the wake of a dispute between Cablevision and Fox TV. But some consumers are turning to ivi TV, a rapidly growing re-broadcaster that works on the Web.
News Corp.'s Fox has pulled its channels off Cablevision after a programming deal expired at midnight Saturday. The move means 3 million viewers in Philadelphia and New York could miss the first game in the National League Championship Series between the Phillies and the San Francisco Giants on Saturday night.
Cablevision Systems will acquire Bresnan Communications, owned in part by Providence Equity Partners, in a transaction valued at $1.365 billion.
While the two sides in this dispute reached a tentative agreement to settle before millions of viewers were left with no Academy Awards telecast, more fights like this are bound to occur. So, don't be too quick to ditch your rabbit ears.
Disney and Cablevision are locked in a tense standoff over carriage fees that could leave millions of viewers without access to the Academy Awards show, one of the biggest television events of the year.
