ESPN is informing the nation's major cable operators
that it will charge "about 20% more later this year, largely
to pay" ESPN's NFL TV rights fee, according to Eben Shapiro
of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. The increase, which is
scheduled to go into effect August 1, will have the network
collecting fees "approaching" $1 per ESPN subscriber on
local-cable systems, with the exact fees varying "depending
on the size of the systems." ESPN said it is "increasing
somewhat the amount of advertising time it provides local-
cable operators to sell," in order to make the higher fee
increases "more palatable." Shapiro, noting that ESPN is
"already one of the most expensive cable channels for
operators to provide," writes that cable operators said it
was "too soon to comment" on whether the ESPN increase
"would lead to higher rates for consumers." Shapiro adds
that the initial response from cable operators "could be
more muted, in part because of political calculations," as
cable rates were deregulated earlier this month and some
cable execs are "reluctant to complain too loudly" due to
possibly "reawakening the regulatory interest of Congress."
One cable exec: "Within the industry, word came down, don't
blame the programmers" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 4/30).
