Friday update No. 4
Fox and Time Warner Cable agreed just after midnight to extend the contract a few hours to avoid the New Year's Day blackout. By 10 a.m. PT they were still negotiating.
Friday Update No. 3
As of 12:30 a.m. PT, Fox remained on TWC systems. A spokesman for the network said both sides were still talking. Check back in the morning for another update, should events warrant.
Friday Update No. 2
Viewers of Time Warner Cable in Manhattan report seeing an ad from the cable giant declaring a done deal. Reps for both camps call it "a mistake." Details over at TV MoJoe.
Early Friday update:
The midnight EST deadline passed with no resolution to the fees dispute between News Corp.'s Fox and Time Warner Cable, but negotiations continued into the night and Time Warner subscribers continued to receive the top-rated network -- a sign that the sides were making progress.
Millions of Americans face the loss of Fox channels with the new year, including a number of top sports events on Friday. Fox is scheduled to air National Football League games, as well as college football's Bowl Championship Series.
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski issued a statement late Thursday afternoon chiding Fox and Time Warner for letting the dispute drag on to the last minute in the run-up to the holiday:
"I have urged Fox and Time Warner Cable to agree to a temporary extension of carriage if they do not come to terms on a new carriage agreement today, in order to prevent disruption to their viewers. Companies shouldn’t force cable-watching football fans to scramble for other means of TV delivery on New Year’s weekend."
If 11th-hour talks don't at least result in a temporary arrangement to keep the network from going dark, the FCC would consider ordering News Corp. to continue offering its channels for a short period of time, an FCC official told the Wall Street Journal (which is owned by News Corp.).
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From Wednesday:
Time Warner said it would submit to arbitration in its battle with Fox over transmission fees, but the network responded Wednesday by saying it wasn't willing to go that route, further jeopardizing a resolution just two days before the home of "American Idol" and several NFL games was to go dark for millions of cable subscribers.
In a letter Tuesday to Sen. John Kerry, Glenn Britt, the chairman and CEO of Time Warner Cable, wrote, “We are willing to commence an arbitration proceeding immediately before the FCC. And, to prevent any disruption to consumers while the proceeding is pending, we would enter into an interim agreement with Fox” to keep its programming on the air.
In its own letter to Senator Kerry, News Corp. deputy chairman Chase Kerry wrote, "We strongly believe this is an issue that needs to be settled at the bargaining table, and that binding arbitration too often looks to the past, not the future."
The current deal between Fox and Time Warner expires at midnight, December 31.
