TWC's Witmer responds to DirecTV criticism of new L.A. networks

Witmer said DirecTV only thinks the system is broken "when the product doesn't belong to them."

Time Warner Cable's carriage battle with DirecTV over TWC's new Los Angeles sports networks went public this week. Two days after DirecTV President Mike White bashed the pricetag of TWC's networks, Time Warner Cable Exec VP and Chief Video & Content Officer Melinda Witmer responded in kind.

On his company's earnings call, White pointed to TWC SportsNet as an example of a "broken" regional sports network structure, where a company like Time Warner Cable buys rights "for three times the national average on a per-game basis." On Thursday, during the 2012 Sports Media & Technology conference in New York, Witmer responded: “Some of the math that Mike’s quoting, I’m not quite understanding. But most importantly, I’d remind Mike that he owns regional sports networks. And I’ll tell you, Time Warner Cable pays a lot more for the Root Sports networks than we’re asking DirecTV to pay for the Lakers. The system is broken and a mess when it’s not their product. We feel comfortable that we’re offering good value for fans.”