Cable System, Fox Still at Odds.

Cable television customers in some northeast Arkansas towns are still seeing red after a spat between their cable provider and a network kept them from seeing the Arkansas Razorbacks win the Cotton Bowl.

And they are not alone. Some 400,000 cable subscribers across the country no longer have access to the Fox network channels after the rebroadcast agreement between the network and Cox Communications systems expired Dec. 31. As negotiations between the two continue, some analysts think fed-up customers may opt to try satellite-dish TV.

Customers of Cox Communications in Jonesboro, Pocahontas and Walnut Ridge were among those affected when the Atlanta-based company's retransmission agreement with Fox Entertainment Group of New York ran out. Negotiations for a nationwide deal came to a logjam after Cox declined to add two more Fox networks as it upgrades to digital systems in several cities.

Cox carried four Fox stations in northeast Arkansas -- Fox News, Fox Sports Southwest, FX and Fox Family, in addition to Memphis' Fox affiliate, WHBQ, which televised the Cotton Bowl. Fox was asking Cox to add a Fox movie channel and Fox Sports World in exchange for continuing to allow retransmission of the other networks.

Under 1992 legislation, television stations can require cable operators to get permission, before retransmitting the station's programming on a cable system. The cable companies do not pay to retransmit the signals of TV-network stations, but the networks have pressured cable operators to carry their premium channels, such as ABC's ESPN or NBC's MSNBC.

Garry Bowman, general manager of Cox Communications' Jonesboro cable TV franchise, says the difference between the situation there and other Cox franchises came down to the fact that Fox actually owns and operates the Memphis station as opposed to being an affiliate like KLRT in Little Rock.

Bowman says there is still no resolution to the stalemate. Options being considered by Cox include seeking rights to retransmit KLRT. Currently there is nothing being broadcast on the channel that was the location of WHBQ.

Local officials of the cable provider say they received numerous calls from irate customers, especially during the Jan. 1 Cotton Bowl.

Bowman says the two channels Fox wanted Cox to add are not ones being asked for by subscribers, who ultimately pay the cost of new channels. That's not to say that channels would not be added without subscriber interest, he says, but the company tries to let customer preference determine which channels to add.

Bowman says Fox would not agree to a request by Cox for a 99-day extension in negotiations. With them it was "all or nothing," Bowman says.

Cable subscribers have the option of disconnecting the cable and trying to pick up the Fox station with an antenna. Or, as some industry analysts suggestion, the situation could prompt customers to decide to try satellite TV.