FS San Diego has launched a marketing campaign aimed at Time Warner Cable, one of the area's biggest cable operators. TWC has not yet reached an agreement with Fox to carry the channel, which carries Padres games and launched at the beginning of the MLB season. Using the campaign theme of "Our Home. Our City.," Fox Sports bought ad time in print (the San Diego Union-Tribune and the North County Times), radio and mobile digital billboards. Fox also is employing street teams and staging public events. "We want to remind Padres fans that they have choices if they are being blacked out and can't see the games," said FS San Diego Senior VP & GM Henry Ford. "At the end of the day, we're hoping Time Warner Cable values San Diego sports as they clearly seem to value sports in other markets, including Los Angeles" (John Ourand, THE DAILY). In California, John Maffei notes the "sticking point from Day 1 has been cost." Sources said that TWC "got the Padres on the cheap last season from Cox Communications -- about $1.50 a customer." They added that Fox is "asking about $5.50 a customer for its network" (NORTH COUNTY TIMES, 6/15). Fox is refuting the amount it is asking per customer, saying in a statement, "The $5.50 sub fee is definitely not accurate and wildly inflated" (THE DAILY).
