Cablevision Systems Corp. on Saturday reached a deal in principle that puts Fox programming back in the living rooms of 3 million households in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
The 16-day stalemate kept subscribers from being able to watch the National League Championship Series, the first two games of the World Series and one New York Giants football game. Charley's Aunt in Chatham Borough is one of the local establishments that subscribes to Cablevision.
Even after the deal was struck, acrimony remained. In a statement, Cablevision said it overpaid Fox's parent, News Corp. The Bethpage-based cable provider also took a swipe at the FCC.
"In the absence of any meaningful action from the FCC, Cablevision has agreed to pay Fox an unfair price for multiple channels of its programming including many in which our customers have little or no interest. Cablevision conceded because it does not think its customers should any longer be denied the Fox programs they wish to see," the statement read.
Cablevision added "It is clear the retransmission consent system is badly broken and needs to be fixed."
Cablevision had been paying News Corp. $70 million per year to carry Fox programming. News Corp. was asking for $150 million.
"In the end, our customers will pay more than they should for Fox programming, but less than they would have if we had accepted the unprecedented rates News Corp. was demanding when they pulled their channels off Cablevision," Cablevision stated.
Terms of the deal were not released.
The agreement means Sunday's Halloween football game between the New York Jets and Green Bay Packers will be available, as is tonight's World Series tilt between the Texas Rangers and San Francisco Giants.
