FCC member on Fox-Cablevision spat: Protect consumers

As the blackout of Fox Broadcasting Co. signals on Cablevision entered a fifth day Wednesday, a Federal Communications Commission member said that if "good faith" negotiations are not under way, "we should move promptly to protect consumers."

The statement by Commissioner Michael Copps, a Democrat, stopped short of endorsing FCC arbitration of the dispute, which began Friday at midnight when Fox pulled WNYW / 5 and My 9. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) announced plans Tuesday to introduce legislation during Congress's "lame duck" session following the November elections that would empower the FCC to resolve such disputes.

In yesterday's statement, Copps acknowledged that "the FCC's role has been limited."

"That's partly due to the statute under which we operate, which generally confines our role to encouraging 'good faith' negotiations between the private parties. We have interpreted this charge very cautiously," he said. "But the FCC is a consumer protection agency, and if the Fox-Cablevision dispute proves anything, it is that consumers are clearly not being protected."

However, in a research note by Charlottesville, Va.-based media analysis firm SNL Kagan, senior analyst Robin Flynn said it would take months "if not years" to pass legislation enabling the FCC to force parties to submit to binding arbitration.

The companies held brief talks Wednesday. Bethpage-based Cablevision, which owns Newsday, sent out a late-afternoon statement that read, in part: "By now it should be clear even to [Fox parent] News Corp. that binding arbitration is the fastest and fairest way to return Fox programming to our consumers."

News Corp. did not issue a statement Wednesday, but previous statements have rejected Cablevision's call for arbitration.

The dispute centers around the issue of retransmission fees. Cablevision says it pays News Corp. up to $70 million annually for all of its various Fox channels, while Fox is seeking $150 million.