NEW YORK - Cox Communications Incorporated, which is based in Atlanta, is gearing up for a tussle with Fox Sports and ESPN when its contracts with the sports programmers come up next year. <br>
<br>
Speaking at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia conference Tuesday, Cox Chief Executive Jim Robbins said the company wants to put the channels in a special sports tier. He said that ESPN had proposed price increases of 20 percent for next year and Fox proposed increases of 35 percent. <br>
<br>
Robbins said, ``We are not going to be able to swallow these kinds of costs any more.'' <br>
<br>
He says that Fox Sports and ESPN together make up 18 percent of viewership, but more than 30 percent of programming costs. <br>
<br>
Cox's contract with ESPN comes up for renewal in the first quarter. Robbins says he expects a good tussle with ESPN and Fox Sports and warned that the company would drop the channels, at least temporarily, if necessary. <br>
<br>
Peter Chernin, chief operating officer of News Corporation and Fox Entertainment Group Incorporated, also spoke at the conference. He denies that Fox Sports had suggested a 35 percent price increase. <br>
<br>
Chernin says the increase is only for Phoenix. <br>
<br>
Chernin also said tiring would not be a good idea for Fox Sports. ``We expect fair value when contracts come up,'' he said. <br>
<br>
Separately, Cox's Robbins says the company will stop selling high definition receiver boxes in stores and start leasing them. <br>
<br>
In efforts to increase visibility in stores, where satellite broadcasters have long pitched their high definition services, cable companies began selling some boxes in retail stores. But Robbins says customers were complaining there were too many additional costs. Moving to a leased model is an effort to make thing simpler. <br>
<br>
Robbins says reverting to a leased model would put a slight dent in free cash flow.
