IP Democracy: Cablevision Breaks Ranks With Industry on A La Carte

Cablevision Systems, once again, has split off from its peers over the issue of a la carte programming. According to the Wall Street Journal, Cablevision Chairman Chuck Dolan said:

The “opportunity to purchase programming on an a la carte basis would be in the best interests of consumers,” said Charles Dolan, chairman of the Bethpage, N.Y., operator. “We do not believe in the long term that selling programming a la carte will be detrimental to either programmers or cable operators.”

The industry has been scrambling for a response since Monday to Chairman Martin’s call for a la carte regulations. Unlike the rest of the industry, Cablevision has embraced a la carte due to its battles with regional sports network YES Network, which carries the New York Yankees games. In 2003, YES Network hiked its license fee for Cablevision to over $2.00 per subscriber, at which point Cablevision put the network on an a la carte tier rather than raise basic rates.

YES Network fought the move and Cablevision ultimately dropped the Yankees during baseball season. A bloody PR and consumer backlash battle then ensued, with a resolution of the matter calling for the YES Network to be carried on a sports tier.

Update: The Street.com has more on this development, including the fact that Cablevision’s stance was communicated through a press statement the company issued today.

Update: AT&T (formerly SBC) has also come out in favor of a la carte, according to this USA Today item.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on December 1, 2005 4:32 PM to IP Democracy