Chase Carey Warns Of Battle As Fox Wants Cable Ops To Pay For Net
By John Ourand, Staff Writer
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Carey Wants Cable Operators
To Start Paying To Carry Fox |
News Corp. Deputy Chair, President & COO Chase Carey warned that retransmission consent battles may be brewing as his company tries to convince cable operators to start paying to carry the Fox broadcast channel. "It's not about trying to pick a fight," Carey said during a session at Broadcasting & Cable's OnScreen Media Summit in N.Y. "It's about trying to get our business to a place where it can be a healthy, long-term business." In the past, Fox has used retransmission consent rules to help launch its cable channels, like FX and Fuel. Now, broadcasters want to get paid for their broadcast networks so they can better compete with cable networks. Carey specifically singled out sports rights as "a real challenge," adding that "it's not rocket science" to figure out how broadcasters can compete with cable networks. "It starts with making dual revenue." Referencing cable channels that are getting paid by cable operators, like ESPN getting about $4 per month per subscriber, Carey said Fox has to start relying on more than just advertising to afford sports rights. He said Fox is "not rolling over" on sports rights and plans to continue using sports content on its broadcast and cable channels. "We need to move that business to a place where we are getting fair value," he said, adding that he believes "right is on our side. ... You have to have conviction and do what's necessary to do." Elsewhere during the session, Carey said Fox is not looking to build an all-sports cable challenger to ESPN, saying he would rather sprinkle sports content into Fox' current cable channels. Carey also said News Corp. has not ruled out bidding on the Olympics. "We aren't doing our job if we are not evaluating big franchises like that," he said. Carey noted News Corp. is not talking with GE about buying a stake in NBC, saying that Comcast "has a pretty decent shot" to acquire a stake in the broadcaster.
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