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News Corp. Chairman Murdoch. Source: Fox News Channel
News Corp. (Nasdaq: NWSA) wasn't the first programmer to pay cable operators and satellite TV providers cash in exchange for carriage when it launched Fox News Channel in October 1996. But its offer of $10 per subscriber was the most any network had guaranteed distributors. While the strategy helped Fox News debut in 17 million homes, Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC), which at the time was controlled by CNN parent Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX), refused to carry the rival news network.
The Fox News Channel - Time Warner Cable dispute sparked attention from former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, as 1.2 million subscribers on the MSO's flagship New...