This entire situation is infuriating, and to make matters worse there's nothing we can do about it. No amount of brooding, complaining or finger pointing will change the fact that a majority of households in the Los Angeles area will not have the Dodgers on their television.
Last week there was a small glimmer of hope that the season could start on a good note, but that flame has been put out. Per Meg James at the LA Times, "Time Warner Cable throws in the towel on Dodger channel negotiations"
Time Warner Cable has surrendered the ball.I have no sympathy for Time Warner. They had more than ample time to strike a deal, and if they'd been willing to do before what they say they'd do now then we wouldn't be where we are today. But here we are, and the only ones to blame is Time Warner themselves... Oh, and the Dodgers for signing that deal with the devil.
The New York company conceded Thursday that it has failed in its efforts to win broad distribution for SportsNet LA, the TV channel owned by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Time Warner Cable made several pitches this month to other pay-TV providers -- including AT&T's DirecTV and Cox Communications -- hoping to entice them to sign up for the Dodgers channel in time for the baseball season, which begins Monday.
The company proposed cutting the carriage fee for the channel, entering into binding arbitration or signing a six-year deal – but struck out.
"They’ve rejected every offer we’ve made," Time Warner Cable spokesman Andrew Fegyveresi said Thursday.
"We’ve offered short-term deals and long-term deals, we’ve lowered the price by 30%, we’ve asked for arbitration, we’ve offered ... the same thing they charge for their regional sports networks, we’ve told them we’d meet them any time, anywhere to negotiate and nothing has worked," Fegyveresi said.
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