I am – Hercules!!
UPDATE!! News Corp. and Time Warner Cable reached a retransmission agreement late New Year's Day without Fox pulling its content from the cable system for even a minute.
ORIGINAL PROPHETIC POST:
News Corp. president Chase Carey says it’s likely Time Warner will drop the Fox Network, FX, Fox News and Fox Business from its channel lineup at the end of Dec. 31.
But contain your excitement. I suspect that’s not going to happen. How can Time Warner not cave to News Corp.’s fee demands?
My sense is Time Warner needs Fox a lot more than Fox needs Time Warner. Even if Time Warner elects to play hardball, fans of Fox programming can:
1) Watch Fox shows on Fox.com or Hulu,
2) buy an antenna (and maybe a $50 digital converter box if they own an older TV) and get Fox over the air, or
3) switch to satellite providers like DirecTV or Dish.
If Time Warner decides to keep Fox dark on its systems much beyond the Jan. 1 Sugar Bowl kickoff, it risks millions of subscribers switching to satellite for good!
Here’s when new episodes return to Fox, so you can make your contingency plans:
FOX & FX NEW-EPISODE DATES
Jan. 1 Sugar Bowl
Jan. 2 America’s Most Wanted
Jan. 3 American Dad
Jan. 3 The Cleveland Show
Jan. 3 Family Guy
Jan. 3 The Simpsons
Jan. 4 Fiesta Bowl
Jan. 5 Orange Bowl
Jan. 6 Nip/Tuck
Jan. 8 Dollhouse
Jan. 9 Cops
Jan. 11 Fringe
Jan. 11 House
Jan. 12 American Idol
Jan. 13 Our Little Genius
Jan. 14 Archer
Jan. 14 Bones
Jan. 17 Human Target
Jan. 17 24
Jan. 25 Damages
Jan. 29 Kitchen Nightmares
Feb. 11 Past Life
March 14 Sons of Tuscon
Apr. 13 Glee
BY TITLE
America’s Most Wanted Jan. 2
American Dad Jan. 3
American Idol Jan. 12
Archer Jan. 14
Bones Jan. 14
The Cleveland Show Jan. 3
Cops Jan. 9
Damages Jan. 25
Dollhouse Jan. 8
Family Guy Jan. 3
Fiesta Bowl Jan. 4
Fringe Jan. 11
Glee Apr. 13
House Jan. 11
Human Target Jan. 17
Kitchen Nightmares Jan. 29
Nip/Tuck Jan. 6
Orange Bowl Jan. 5
Our Little Genius Jan. 13
Past Life Feb. 11
The Simpsons Jan. 3
Sons of Tuscon March 14
Sugar Bowl Jan. 1
24 Jan. 17
Find The Hollywood Reporter’s story on the matter here.
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