Broadcast TV Hangs Tough

摘要

In their many fights with local broadcasters over rights to retransmit stations, cable operators have hoped they could get a little break from Cox Television. After all, the TV-station group shares a corporate bloodline with MSO Cox Communications, a significant leader and ally among the collegial cable industry. Again and again, the operators have been disappointed. "Cox Television isn't quite as bad as Disney," says the president of one top-10 cable operator. "But they're definitely more difficult to deal with than the average bear." Cox Television President Andy Fisher has a simple explanation. Parent company Cox Enterprises Inc. likes decentralization, pushing each division to make decisions that are best for itself. Cox Enterprises "is not a cable company," Fisher says. "It is a company with different media. These companies each operate in the way it believes is best for it and best for its constituencies."