Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) is urging Cox Media Group (FOX 25) & Verizon (FiOS) to reach an agreement in their current retransmission dispute that has blacked out FOX 25 on Verizon FiOS in Massachusetts.
Markey, a member of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, released the following statement about the ongoing fee dispute between Verizon and Cox Media Group that has led to the blackout of FOX 25 (WFXT-TV) for approximately 400,000 households in Massachusetts.
“For many Massachusetts consumers, Black Friday was preceded by blackout Thursday and could be followed by further programming blackouts until Cox Media Group and Verizon come to agreement. That's not right - the consumer shouldn't be caught in the middle. I urge both sides to continue working to resolve this dispute so consumers can access all of the programming they have paid for and expect from their video provider.”
As expected when we told you this last week, FOX 25 went dark at 3am on Thanksgiving due to the dispute. "Unfortunately, so far,Verizon FiOS has refused to reach a fair, market-based deal to carry FOX 25. Our existing agreement with Verizon FiOS has expired, and we cannot provide Verizon FiOS customers with live access to their favorite FOX programs until a new deal is reached."
FOX 25 continues to blame Verizon saying "we are continuing to negotiate with Verizon FiOS, but Verizon has refused to agree to reasonable terms for the valuable programming we provide."
Verizon spokesman Phil Santoro said in an email to the Boston Herald that Cox is asking for millions more in fees and urged Cox to “reconsider these drastic and anti-competitive tactics” and return to the negotiating table to reach a deal.
Overall content costs have risen cumulatively 20-30 percent since 2010,” Santoro said. “Verizon is taking a stand for our customers.”
Tom Raponi, vice president and general manager of Dedham-based FOX 25, said Cox has made itself available to negotiate and is awaiting Verizon’s response to its most recent proposal, although he declined to specify what that offer entails.
“As far as rates go, Verizon is misleading its customers,” Raponi said in an email. “The rate Fox 25 is seeking from Verizon is far less than Verizon already pays for other channels with ratings that are a fraction of Fox 25’s. For the average subscriber, the rate for Fox 25 would be just a few pennies per day.”
One of the sides will eventually give in.
