Charter's plan to buy Time Warner Cable will benefit some sports fans even if the government refuses to approve the merger. Just after announcing the proposed acquisition today, Charter CEO Tom Rutledge said his company will finally begin showing Los Angeles Dodgers games in Southern California.
Dodgers games have been unavailable to most pay-TV subscribers in the region since the beginning of the 2014 season. That's because Time Warner Cable has exclusive rights to air Dodgers games locally on its new SportsNet LA regional network, and that company demanded that other TV providers like Charter, AT&T, and DirecTV pay more money for broadcast rights than the companies are willing to spend. Because the other TV providers refused to pay TWC for access, Dodgers games have been shown locally only on Time Warner Cable, which covers about 30 percent of the region.
That's about to change only for Charter customers. "We are going to get the Dodgers on," Rutledge told the Los Angeles Times today. "We want the Dodgers on every outlet and we are committed to making that happen." Charter has almost 300,000 customers in the region, and they will get Dodgers games within a few weeks, he said.
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