Time Warner Cable has proposed a new deal for distribution of Dodgers-owned RSN SportsNet LA, a six-year agreement that would see the net during the first year "offered at the lower $3.50-a-month introductory price, with a slightly higher rate in subsequent years," according to a source cited by Meg James of the L.A. TIMES. This is the "second offer in a week" made to entice cable carriers "back to the bargaining table." TWC last week "acknowledged that it had cut the price of SportsNet LA by 30% for one year to try to end the impasse." But pay-TV providers "balked, saying the price of the channel -- offered this year for about $3.50 a month, per customer home -- was still too high." Carriers also privately acknowledged that they were "wary of signing a one-year deal" with TWC amid worries that the price of the channel "would soar within a couple of years so that Time Warner Cable could recoup some of the costs of its expensive arrangement with the Dodgers' owners." There are "several reasons the other pay-TV providers continue to refuse to play ball." One is that TWC is in the "process of being acquired" by Charter Communications, and some providers are "waiting to see whether Charter offers the channel at an even lower rate." Another reason is that several pay-TV operators "experienced buyer's remorse" after they agreed in '12 to carry TWC SportsNet, which airs Lakers games. That channel is "offered for about $4 a month, per subscriber home" (L.A. TIMES, 3/30).
