Update: Negotiations for TWC SportsNet Continue
October 30, 2012
Currently, Cox does not have a carriage agreement with TWC SportsNet. Cox's negotiations with TWC SportsNet are active and ongoing. As we do with all programming negotiations, we will continue to work through the process and fight on behalf of our customers to protect the value of the products and services we provide.
Many of the Lakers games are telecast on channels already on Cox's lineup, including tonight's season opener against Dallas on Tuesday (TNT, 7:30 p.m., Cox channels 18, HD Channel 1018). At least 25 of the Lakers' games will be on broadcast TV and other cable networks including ABC, ESPN and TNT, channels which are already available to Cox customers.
FAQs
Is Cox planning to add Time Warner Cable SportsNet to its lineup?
We are actively working through the negotiations process with Time Warner Cable SportsNet. We know that the Lakers are popular sports programming, but that programming comes at an extremely high price. We will continue to work through the negotiations process with TWC SportsNet to fight on behalf of our customers and protect the value of the products and services we provide.
We are actively working through the negotiations process with Time Warner Cable SportsNet. We know that the Lakers are popular sports programming, but that programming comes at an extremely high price. We will continue to work through the negotiations process with TWC SportsNet to fight on behalf of our customers and protect the value of the products and services we provide.
The game is available on NBA TV. Can I watch it there? Or, can I get Lakers games if I buy the NBA League pass season package?
NBA League Pass and NBA TV are required to blackout a game that is televised nationally, via a regional sports network, or an over-the-air station within the broadcast territory. Time Warner Cable SportsNet is considered a regional sports network in California, which is a local market for the Lakers. As a result, Lakers games on these channels will be blacked out by these networks in our California markets. These rules apply to all multichannel video programming distributors.
Doesn't Cox get paid for offering programming?
No. There is a misconception that programmers pay cable companies like Cox to distribute their networks and content. In fact, Cox and all video providers are required to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to TV networks for the rights to distribute their programming. When the wholesale cost of television programming increases, it drives up your (retail) cable bill. In particular, sports programming is the most expensive of all programming. Cox and all programming distributors negotiate fiercely to ensure that our customers' retail prices don't increase by millions of dollars.
Why is sports programming so expensive?
If you "follow the money," it goes like this:
1. Professional teams are paying incredibly large sums of money to sign the best players possible (e.g., The New York Yankees pay Alex Rodriguez $27.5 million per year for 10 years);
2. Television programmers help fund those salaries by buying TV rights to the team's games;
3. Television programmers raise the wholesale cost of this programming for television distributors to distribute those sports programs to their customers;
4. Cox absorbs as much of these cost increases as possible, but inevitably the customer has to pay more through retail price increases on their cable television bill, which is why we work hard to negotiate the best price possible for our customers.
No comments:
Post a Comment