Time Warner Cable is "willing to let an arbitrator determine a fair price for SportsNet LA in the hopes of resolving its dispute with DirecTV and other pay-TV providers over distribution of the Dodger-owned channel," according to Flint & Hiserman of the L.A. TIMES. TWC said that it would "agree to arbitration" after six members of Congress "sent a letter suggesting the move" to DirecTV CEO Michael White and TWC CEO Rob Marcus. However, DirecTV "does not appear interested in entering into arbitration to resolve the dispute." Other distributors "not carrying SportsNet LA include Cox Communications, Verizon FiOS and Dish Network." The letter from U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) "comes one day after" fellow Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-Calif.) wrote a letter to the FCC "asking it to mediate an agreement" between TWC and other providers. Dodgers President & CEO Stan Kasten said, "If you want to carry Dodgers baseball, this is obviously the way to do it." However, he declined to comment when asked if the Dodgers "would be willing to renegotiate their deal with Time Warner Cable if it meant getting the games back on television" (L.A. TIMES, 7/29).
