Time Warner Cable CEO pushes for sports tiers

Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) CEO Glenn Britt is using the MSO's dispute with regional sports network MSG to renew calls for distributing sports programming on separate tiers. With MSG pushing for a 53 percent increase in its license fee, according to Time Warner, the MSO is arguing that not all cable subscribers should be forced to pay for sports programming.

"What was a minor problem is turning into an astronomical problem. The ultimate solution is to get that programming on some sort of smaller packaging scheme," Britt told The Wall Street Journal.

Cable operators have pushed ESPN and other sports networks for more than a decade to allow them to distribute their channels on sports tiers, maintaining that only about 25 percent of pay TV subscribers watch sports programming. But the contracts that Time Warner Cable and other distributors have with most sports networks require that they be distributed to the vast majority of subscribers.

While Time Warner Cable and Comcast have created sports tiers that carry niche sports channels such as The Tennis Channel and Fox Soccer Channel, even niche sports programmers have fought the idea of being carried on sports tiers.

Time Warner Cable's contract to carry MSG expires on Dec. 31. Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and AT&T (NYSE: T) recently won an FCC ruling that gives the telcos access to the high-definition feed from MSG. It's possible that some Time Warner Cable subscribers that are hardcore Knicks or Rangers fans could jump to one of the telcos if MSG pulls its feed from Time Warner.

For more:
- The Wall Street Journal has this story

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