Local governments have
little say in cable issues
Although municipal officials in Jackson have publicly commented on the ongoing stalemate that finds local customers of Cablevision without access to the new YES Network, there is, in fact, not much they can do to help residents of the community gain access to New York Yankees baseball games.
The issue at hand centers around a dispute between Cable-vision and the YES Network, which is now the rights holder for the broadcast of Yankees games. The two entities have thus far been unable to reach an agreement as to whether the games should be made available as part of a Cablevision customer’s basic service or added as a premium channel.
As of Tuesday, there was no resolution to the situation. The YES Network will produce 130 Yankees games this year. A limited number of Yankees games will be seen for free on Channel 2, New York, and the Fox Network. A few more Yankees games will be available on the ESPN cable network.
According to Township Committeeman Sean Giblin, a number of residents have called the municipal offices to complain about Cablevision.
While residents who want their Yankees games may get a friendlier ear at town hall than they would get at Cablevision’s corporate offices, this problem goes way beyond anything that municipal officials in any community served by Cablevision will be able to address.
Giblin was only stating the obvious at a March 25 meeting of the Township Committee when he said, "I can tell you that the public perception is that Cablevision keeps charging more and more and giving less and less. As cable rates increase, the Yankees baseball matter is a perfect example of the public getting the short end of the proverbial stick."
He told the governing body and members of the audience that as the time approaches, the committee will be reviewing its franchise agreement with Cable-vision and could opt not to renew. Giblin said township officials and residents will have a voice in the decision on whether to renew or not.
While they may have a voice in the cable company’s municipal renewal process, residents and township officials should be aware that it is extremely unlikely they will be able to opt out of a renewal with Cablevision.
Cable television regulations generally require a showing of gross negligence on the part of a cable television provider before a franchise can be changed.
Not providing New York Yankees games to Jackson and other New Jersey communities would seem to fall far short of gross negligence.
The players in this game are movers and shakers in the New York media world, not a local cable television general manager or a municipal official.
Cablevision customers alone can act on this issue the way they can, and should, act on other matters in their hometowns. They can vote.
They can vote to cancel their Cablevision agreement and try to hit the company on the bottom line. Until that message is delivered by thousands of people, however, customers will continue to get the short end of the stick that Giblin spoke about.