Cablevision, Verizon Fight over Content—Again
Cablevision was refusing to let Verizon carry the first New York gubernatorial debate to its FiOS pay-TV customers, the telco said. Cablevision was sponsoring the 90-minute faceoff among gubernatorial candidates Andrew Cuomo, Carl Paladino and five other smaller-party contenders from 7 to and 8:30 Monday night.
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Verizon sought support from elected officials and others on Long Island and around the state, a spokesman said. FiOS TV customers and millions of other viewers served by other pay-TV providers across the state were blacked out of the debate, denying their rights as citizens and voters, since Cablevision is the sole broadcaster of the event, said General Manager Michelle Webb of FiOS1, Verizon’s news channel for Long Island and northern New Jersey. Cablevision’s refusal to share the broadcast is consistent with its other policy to deny its sports programming in high-definition to other carriers (CD Aug 4 p4), the telco said.
"FiOS1 has the same access and use of the gubernatorial debate as every other news organization including the network affiliates and national news channels,” a spokeswoman for Cablevision’s News 12 network said. She noted that the debate was be available statewide and to be streamed live on news12.com, newsday.com, ny1.com and ny1noticias.com. News 12 also has a Facebook page dedicated to the debate. While the broadcast will be available on certain websites and some radio stations, those may not be practical access solutions for many people, Webb said.
The New York Public Service Commission doesn’t have regulatory authority over that matter, a spokesman said. The agency doesn’t regulate cable-TV content, he said. A New York state government official urged the FCC to step in. Federal legislation might be needed to resolve disputes like this, he said.
It’s another example of the issues involved in the Cablevision/Fox dispute (see separate story in this issue), said Gary Brown, director of communications for the New York State Consumer Protection Board. Consumers are hurt when cable companies or content providers fight with each other, especially on something as important as gubernatorial debate, he said. “It would've been our strong preference” that the event would be available to everyone since it may be the only debate in this election cycle, he said.
The debate was to be telecast live throughout New York State on cable-exclusive channels: News 12 Long Island, News 12 Westchester, News 12 Hudson Valley, News 12 The Bronx, News 12 Brooklyn, Time Warner Cable’s NY1, NY1 Noticias (with Spanish interpretation) and YNN, said Hofstra University, which was hosting the event. The debate was also to be available to National Public Radio stations throughout New York State, the school said.