Fox Declines to Participate in Arbitration With Time Warner Cable

Big business bailout? Check. Massive overhaul of the health care system? No problem. Making sure you can watch 'The Cleveland Show' next week? Well, not even Uncle Sam can manage that one.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Fox has declined an offer of government arbitration in their ongoing dispute with Time Warner Cable. As we reported earlier this week, the two parties are fighting over the amount Time Warner pays for Fox programming, with Fox holding out for more based on their current ratings ascendancy, a stance that Time Warner claims will only force them to pass the cost on to their 14 million viewers.Big business bailout? Check. Massive overhaul of the health care system? No problem. Making sure you can watch 'The Cleveland Show' next week? Well, not even Uncle Sam can manage that one.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Fox has declined an offer of government arbitration in their ongoing dispute with Time Warner Cable. As we reported earlier this week, the two parties are fighting over the amount Time Warner pays for Fox programming, with Fox holding out for more based on their current ratings ascendancy, a stance that Time Warner claims will only force them to pass the cost on to their 14 million viewers.

With the deadline for a new deal fast approaching -- the current agreement expires at midnight tonight -- the government offered to intervene by providing binding arbitration to settle the argument. Senator John Kerry, the former Democratic presidential candidate from Massachusetts, sent a letter last week to both parties in his capacity as chairman of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Communication, Technology and the Internet, suggesting that the parties agree to government oversight in order to ensure that subscribers continue to receive such programming as 'American Idol,' 'Glee' and the NFL.

That solution seemed to work for Time Warner, who agreed to participate, but yesterday Fox turned down the offer in a letter from Chase Carey, president of Fox's parent company, News Corp.

"We strongly believe this is an issue that needs to be settled at the bargaining table and that binding arbitration all too often looks to the past, not the future," the letter stated. "When Congress enacted the 1992 Cable Act, it established a clear mechanism for programmers and distributors to reach market-based agreements on the basis of direct negotiations. We respectfully believe these discussions do not belong in the hands of a third party."

Carey also declined Time Warner's offer to temporarily extend the current contract while negotiations continue, meaning that, though talks continue, it is increasingly likely that Time Warner subscribers will lose access to Fox and their sister cable networks such as FX as early as tomorrow. And with Fox reportedly asking for more than double what Time Warner is offering, there's no telling how long the blackout will last.

And we thought the Middle East peace talks were complicated.