UPDATED: 01/02/2020
Agreement Reached with FOX
Good News! We are pleased to announce that we have reached an agreement with FOX to continue to provide their programming on your lineup. There will be no disruption in service.
Each year, the cost of delivering the programming our customers want to see increases substantially. We are tough negotiators on your behalf so that we can reach the best agreements with programmers. Our commitment has always been to give you the right combination of networks at the best value possible.
We value you as a customer and appreciate your patience and support as we worked through our negotiations with FOX.
As your Local TV provider, we are part of your community. We hear from customers all the time – whether we’re pumping gas, at a meeting of the Chamber of Commerce, or even at a school event. We are your neighbors and Southwestern Michigan is our home. Our goal is simple: we work hard to give you the services you want at the best value possible.
You may have heard that we are currently in negotiations with FOX, owner of FOX News Channel, FOX Business, FS1 and more, to continue to offer their cable networks to our customers. TV providers, such as Bloomingdale Communications, negotiate agreements with cable and broadcast networks for a fee per channel per month per customer for their programming.
The fees that we pay for these networks account for the bulk of our customers’ monthly cable bills. In the past, these fees were set in private business negotiations and customers rarely knew those negotiations were taking place. But in recent years, those negotiations have become more public as multi-billion dollar mega media companies like FOX have tried to leverage the popularity of their programming to demand unreasonably high fees as well as a commitment to carry ALL or most of the networks they own – whether our customers want them or not.
Our goal is to protect our customers from significant programming fee increases and offer a wide variety of programming choices. This has become increasingly difficult when these huge media companies make unreasonable demands for us to continue to offer their networks. We believe it’s our responsibility to take a stand and fight on your behalf for fair and reasonable agreements.
We are in active talks with FOX over the amount they want to charge Bloomingdale Communications for their cable networks. They are demanding a significant increase in fees for the same exact networks our customers already receive. As your local hometown TV provider, we are on your side in the fight against unreasonable prices.
We want our customers to know that they are NOT at risk of losing cable networks prior to December 31, 2019 when the contract expires. However, after the deadline, Fox may force us to remove their programming taking it away from our customers.
We’re working to resolve these differences and believe that it’s important to explain to our customers the real story behind these changes. We welcome our customer to join the conversation and to learn more at TVOnMySide.com.
