Report: News Corp. To Ask For As Much As $1 Per Subscriber For Fox Sports 1 Channel

News Corp. is asking for $.90-1.00 "per subscriber for its Fox Sports 1 channel," and the company "expects to increase that price in future years," according to Ronald Grover of REUTERS. News Corp. will "unveil its long-rumored national sports channel to advertisers in early March." Sources said that the net will "soon send advertisers invitations to its first sports 'upfront' presentation." News Corp. will "make sales pitches for both its 22 regional sports channels and its new Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2 national channels." The two new channels are "expected to begin broadcasting games in August." Carrying national sports would "allow Fox to charge more to the cable and satellite operators who carry its channels and expand its carriage to more homes to sell higher priced ads." Speed Channel, which is "seen in 87 million homes, currently gets 22 cents a month for each subscriber," while Fuel TV "gets 15 cents monthly for each of its 37 million subscribers" (REUTERS, 2/8).