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Cablevision Rebuked for Asking FCC to Mediate in Dispute With Fox

Oct 27, 2010  •  Post A Comment

Cablevision Systems President and CEO James L. Dolan was rebuked by the FCC on Tuesday for trying to get the government to intervene in its dispute with News Corp., which is threatening to prevent 3 million homes from seeing the World Series starting Wednesday night, the New York Times reports.

In a letter to the FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, Dolan said he would come to the chairman’s office Wednesday in hopes of presenting News Corp. President Chase Carey with “new, constructive offers,” designed to reach an agreement before Game 1 of the Series.

The Times said an FCC official wasted little time in criticizing the efforts, quoting the source as saying in an e-mail to news outlets, “It’s encouraging that Cablevision has a new ‘constructive offer’ and is prepared to negotiate in ‘good faith.’ But they should spend less time writing publicity-seeking letters to the FCC, and more time at the negotiating table reaching an agreement.”

The official added, “Consumers deserve no less and the law demands it. That’s the only way to get programming back on the air. By now the message from the FCC should be crystal clear: Stop the stunts and start negotiating.”

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