New York: News Corp's Chase Carey, the man who oversaw Fox's talks with Cablevision Systems during a two-week blackout, has advice for government officials who want to keep more TV channels from going dark: Stop meddling.
News Corp last month cut off World Series games and shows including Glee to Cablevision's three million customers after the two sides couldn't agree on how much Cablevision should pay Fox.
One problem, Carey said, was that the government wasn't clear about whether it would intervene, leading Cablevision to think it might get better terms if it held out until the US weighed in.
"This process would have been resolved more easily, more quickly," said Carey, chief operating officer and second-in-command to Rupert Murdoch. "I would actually contend we wouldn't have gone off the air at all."
Consumer wrath
Clashes between media and cable companies are on the rise as broadcasters such as Fox and Walt Disney's ABC ask to be paid for programming that used to be free. The number of TV blackouts this year is the most in at least a decade, triggering consumer wrath and lawmaker scrutiny.
Carey, 56, spoke during an interview at News Corp's New York headquarters, in a wood-panelled, windowless room barely large enough for an oversized conference table. He said he was eager to clear up what he thinks are misperceptions about the longest blackout for such a large customer group in at least a decade.
"This wasn't a good experience," Carey said. "Everybody here found this really painful."
News Corp, controlled by Chairman and CEO Murdoch, fell 5 cents to $14.28 on the Nasdaq Stock Market in New York on Tuesday. Cablevision rose 1 cent to $29.33 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. News Corp has gained 4.3 per cent this year, while Cablevision added 38 per cent.
Cablevision declined to make anyone available for comment. A spokesman referred to a conference call last week, when Chief Operating Officer Tom Rutledge said the US Federal Communications Commission should prevent broadcasters from cutting off programming to obtain negotiating leverage.
Senator John Kerry says he plans to introduce a bill when Congress reconvenes next week to keep companies from pulling signals before regulators check for good-faith negotiations. The Massachusetts Democrat is chairman of the communications, internet and technology subcommittee of the Senate Commerce Committee, which plans to hold a hearing on the issue.
"They're very high-profile battles because it can turn into the politicians' constituents losing their TV service," David Joyce, an analyst with Miller, Tabak & Co. in New York, said in an interview.
