Most Dodgers fans "face the bitter prospect" of starting another MLB season without access to Time Warner Cable SportsNet L.A., according to Shaikin & James of the L.A. TIMES. The RSN, which still lacks carriage in around 70% of L.A. homes, has seen efforts at better penetration in the market "complicated by the federal government's lengthy review of two mega-media mergers" -- TWC/Comcast and AT&T/DirecTV. There is "no sign that a resolution will come any time soon." The FCC "has until March 30 -- six days before the Dodgers' season opener -- to approve or reject a merger" between TWC and Comcast. Dodgers Chair Mark Walter said that he and team President & CEO Stan Kasten "have discussed whether they should encourage cable and satellite providers to carry SportsNet LA from the start of the season, pending agreements that would allow financial terms to be applied retroactively." But even that is "tricky because government rules forbid a company from involving itself in the business of a merger partner before the merger is approved." Sources said that with the companies "focusing on their mergers, there have been no negotiations to widen the reach of SportsNet LA in Southern California," where TWC remains the only major pay-TV company to carry the channel. Walter said that the Dodgers "have no interest" in renegotiating their $8.35B deal with TWC, "rejecting suggestions that the team should take less money in the hope that more providers would carry the channel at a lower price." Walter "would not comment directly about whether the Dodgers, in the absence of new deals, would lean on TWC to make the games available to all fans" on KDOC-Ind., "as it did for the final six regular-season games last year" (L.A. TIMES, 1/16).
