Cablevision Stops Broadcasting Food Network, HGTV

Cablevision Systems Corp. said early Friday that it had failed to reach a deal to continue carrying HGTV and Food Network for its 3.1 million subscribers in the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

(PRNewsFoto/Scripps Networks)

The Bethpage-based cable company added that it had no expectation of carrying the signals again. The channels are owned by Cincinnati-based Scripps Networks Interactive Inc., which launched a publicity campaign to pressure Cablevision to continue negotiating.

Food Network and HGTV combined receive less than 25 cents per subscriber under the contact that expired at midnight on Dec. 31, Scripps said. Although details of the negotiations were not released, the network cited a cable subscriber study that suggested the Food Network is worth slightly more than $1 per month and HGTV is valued at 73 cents per month.

“It’s very disappointing that Cablevision refuses to recognize the value that its own subscribers place on Food Network and HGTV, so we’re creating a forum for those viewers to make their voices heard,” John Lansing, executive vice president of Scripps Networks Interactive, said in a statement.

More than 120,000 calls came into the call center and 35,000 e-cards have been sent to Cablevision from viewers logging on to ilovefoodnetwork.com or ilovehgtv.com to express their outrage and disappointment, Scripps said Friday.

“When you consider how popular Food Network and HGTV are, you have to wonder if Cablevision has lost touch with what matters most to its customers,” Lansing said.

Cablevision cited a “dramatic changes in [Scripps] approach” during negotiations as the reason for the impasse. “We are sorry that Scripps’ current financial difficulties are making it impossible for them to continue our relationship on terms that are reasonable for Cablevision and our customers.”

Brooke Johnson, president of Food Network, said Scripps uses fees it receives from cable and satellite companies in developing new shows.

“It’s hard to maintain delivery of programming that viewers rate among their favorite shows when we’re getting short changed – and I mean significantly underpaid in the case of Cablevision – when compared to what this cable company is paying other, comparable networks for programming,” Johnson said in a statement.

HGTV said its holding out hope that the breakdown negotiations would be resolved. “Historically, our relationship with distributors has been positive and mutually beneficial,” Jim Samples, president of HGTV, said in a statement. “We want nothing more than to reach an agreement, one that recognizes the value our networks.”

Food Network, which has shows such as  Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, Ace of Cakes and Next Food Network Star, posted the highest-rated primetime in its history this year with a 19 percent increase over year-ago levels and saw a 10 percent increase in total viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research. 

Likewise, HGTV averaged 1.2 million viewers in primetime, an increase of 9 percent over 2008, led by programs like House Hunters, House Hunters International and Divine Design.

Both networks have been on the air for 16 years. Neither has ever been off the air because of a contract dispute with a distributor, Scripps said.