Dodger Fans Shut Out as Providers Balk at Time Warner Cable Fee

Los Angeles Dodgers fans who enjoyed watching a rejuvenated team on TV last season may find themselves shut out when the squad retakes the field this season -- unless they subscribe to Time Warner Cable.

The cable company, going live with a new Dodgers network, hasn’t convinced DirecTV, AT&T or other pay-TV operators to carry the channel, potentially missing almost two-thirds of the second-largest US TV market. At $4-plus a month, SportsNet LA would be the town’s most costly regional channel, packaged on a basic tier that all subscribers must take. Time Warner Cable’s 2013 accord for 25 years of Dodgers games, pegged at $8.35 billion by the team and the league, is testing the value of sports programming after a run-up in costs. Time Warner Cable needs competitors to sign up and charge their customers for the network to profit.