News Corp (NWS) and Time Warner (TWC) Battle Over Programming Fees

News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) is launching a marketing campaign today, which is aimed at Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC). Time Warner and News Corp. are in a struggle over television programming fees.

At the end of this month, News Corp.'s contract to have their Fox network carried by Time Warner will expire. The renegotiation talks center around cash fees for rights to carry broadcast TV.

The ads allude to football and other shows going off the air because Fox wants a "price that's fair."

Below is the statement released from Fox:

"For the past nine months, Fox has attempted to negotiate in good faith with Time Warner Cable. Our position in these negotiations is entirely reasonable - we are simply asking for fair compensation for the impressive value our Fox programming offers.

While negotiations are ongoing, we have a responsibility to prepare our viewers for the very likely possibility that Time Warner Cable may choose to no longer carry Fox Broadcasting, Fox Cable and Fox regional sports programming. Toward that end, today we launched a marketing campaign notifying Time Warner Cable subscribers that they may lose access to American Idol, 24, House and some of the best live event sports programming on TV (including most BCS Bowl games and NFL on Fox). The campaign consists of print advertising, TV spots, a call-in number (1-866-KEEP-FOX), and a website, www.keepfoxon.com.

Going forward, we will continue actively negotiating with Time Warner Cable in hopes of reaching a fair agreement and will attempt to keep our viewers informed of the situation every step of the way."

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