Viewers Could Lose in Cox-Fox Dispute

A dispute between Fox and Cox Communications could leave 230,000 Orange County television viewers without Fox channels, beginning Feb. 1.

The feud caused thousands of cable customers in Texas to miss the Cotton Bowl, and threatens to knock the Dallas Cowboys’ NFL playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings off the air on Sunday in parts of Texas, Virginia and Ohio.

Fox pulled its programming in those areas after Cox refused to add a Fox movie channel and Fox Sports World to its digital systems. By law, broadcasters may come to cable companies with such requests every three years. Fox denied a Cox request for a 90-day deadline extension on its right to retransmit Fox signals.

When those deadlines passed in the above-mentioned zones, and lacking Fox’s permission to carry the stations, Cox was forced to drop them.

A Jan. 31 deadline looms where Cox serves parts of Tustin, Orange, Newport Beach and south to Camp Pendleton.

“We are absolutely hopeful of getting this resolved,” Cox spokeswoman Ellen East said. “However, Fox has stopped negotiating with us at this point.”

Cox subscribers could disconnect their cable and use an antenna to receive the Fox station, channel 11 in Orange County, though the company is hopeful for an agreement before that is necessary.