CNN - FOX NEWS TRIPLES ITS FEE AT CABLEVISION

FOX NEWS TRIPLES ITS FEE AT CABLEVISION

Analysts who had predicted that Fox News Channel chief Roger Ailes would agree to carriage deals with cable systems for significantly less than the $1.00 per month per subscriber that he had been demanding were right. On Monday trade reports said that FNC had struck a new deal with Cablevision, which primarily serves the New York City area, for 75 cents per subscriber, on the high end of many analysts' forecasts. While below Ailes's pricetag, it amounts to three times the amount that FNC had been receiving under its current contract and makes it the fifth most expensive cable network. By contrast, CNN reportedly receives about 45 cents per subscriber. Reporting on the deal, Broadcasting & Cable commented Monday that it "set the pace for negotiations with other operators." Nevertheless, the trade publication observed, "negotiations with Comcast, Time Warner and EchoStar will likely be very difficult because all three have been as willing to fight to lower programming fees as Fox News is to increase them."

17/10/2006