In Cable TV Fights, Consumers Wait to See Who Blinks

A few minutes into the early hours of Saturday, when three million Cablevision customers in the New York area were blocked from watching Fox because of a contract dispute, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission issued a statement expressing disappointment with both Cablevision and the owner of Fox, the News Corporation.

"Each year, thousands of agreements between broadcasters and pay-TV providers are reached without interruption of customer viewing," the chairman, Julius Genachowski, wrote. "I remain hopeful that these two companies will do what is in the best interest of consumers and find a way quickly to resolve their differences." The quick federal response underscores the seriousness of this latest spat over retransmission consent, which allows distributors like Cablevision to transmit local stations like WNYW, Channel 5 in New York. Local stations, straining to stay profitable, are determined to earn more money from distributors, money that eventually gets tacked onto monthly bills for TV service. When the two sides cannot agree, viewers sometimes see channels go dark, an action that has become a familiar threat in the negotiations in recent years between networks and the large cable providers. Upping the ante, Fox briefly blocked Cablevision customers from viewing Fox shows on its Web site or on Hulu Saturday afternoon, drawing complaints from public interest groups.