Time Warner Cable Lowers Price of Dodgers Channel

Time Warner Cable is floating a proposal designed to end the standoff over distribution of the sports channel owned by the Los Angeles Dodgers to allow legions of Southern California baseball fans to enjoy Hall of Fame announcer Vin Scully's final season in the broadcast booth.

According to The LA Times, Time Warner Cable said late Tuesday that it had cut by 30% the price of the sports channel offered to DirecTV and other pay-TV providers with the hope of spurring long-stalled negotiations over carriage of the channel before the new season begins April 4.

The move could provide a hoped-for breakthrough in the bitter dispute that has prevented thousands of Dodgers fans from watching their favorite team on TV for the last two seasons. Alternatively, Time Warner Cable could strike out once again, frustrating long-suffering fans.

“We owe it to Dodger fans to try to get a deal done, especially because of the historic nature of this year with it being [baseball announcer] Vin Scully's final season,” Time Warner Cable spokesman Andrew Fegyveresi said late Tuesday.

Currently only baseball fans in 1.8 million homes in Southern California served by Time Warner Cable or Charter Communications have access to the channel owned by Guggenheim Baseball Management. Time Warner Cable distributes the channel on behalf of the team.

DirecTV, AT&T, Verizon and Cox Communications have balked at the price of the channel that Time Warner had been demanding. Pay-TV providers have been under pressure to hold the line on programming costs because consumers are tired of seeing their pay-TV rates increase every year.