TIME WARNER CHANNELS A REACTION.

Byline: TOM HOFFARTH Media

Last week, we took a stand on the Time Warner-Fox Sports Net situation that has forced the 350,000-plus customers of that cable system to miss Dodgers games for the last month, and now Angels games for the last week.

DirecTV continues to be the best option for anyone who misses watching these teams as the pennant races heat up.

Many letters, calls and e-mails came in on the subject. We haven't changed our mind.

But, as a courtesy, we've offered Eric Brown, the general manager of the Time Warner's West Valley system, another forum for an expanded response to our opinion.

Here's his take, for what it's worth:

I appreciate Tom Hoffarth and the Daily News offering me this opportunity to clear up some misconceptions regarding the current dispute between Time Warner Cable and Fox Sports Net, which has resulted in Fox blocking our customers from seeing Dodgers games on Fox Sports.

Ironically, days after the Daily News Business Section announced that Rupert Murdoch was closing in on his purchase of DirecTV, Mr. Hoffarth suggested in his column that the solution to the stalemate between Time Warner and Fox is Daily News readers unplugging their cable and calling DirecTV for an installation that afternoon. He said he'd wait.

Go ahead and wait, Tom. But don't hold your breath. I called DirecTV three times that same day. The nearest customer-service representative was in Florida. The first available installation date was a week or two away.

If it takes that long to get it installed, how quickly will a representative in Florida get someone out to repair it? If you want to pay your bill by other than credit card, DirecTV says you can Western Union your payment to them because the Los Angeles office doesn't actually let customers come in to do business.

Time Warner understands the pain Fox's embargo of Dodgers games is causing our loyal sports fans because we live here in the community. We do business in the community. We see our customers every day - in our offices, in supermarkets and, yes, at the Dodgers games that we miss seeing on TV, too.

Yes, Tom, we actually care. When viewers call Fox's toll-free number, they hear 30 seconds of Fox's latest recorded pitch on the situation, which changes daily, depending on which way the public relations wind is blowing. Then they are transferred to our offices.

Fortunately, once they reach us, they have the choice of speaking to a customer-service representative, leaving a message for me or speaking with another member of our senior staff.

Those we don't speak to directly, we call back. Of the thousands who have called the Fox 866 number, how many have actually talked to a Fox representative?

Very few, I would guess. Conversely, we have had many conversations with our customers, many of whom indicate that, while they are not pleased with the situation, they appreciate the fact that we are trying.

Some of our customers have indicated that they would pay an extra surcharge to see the games. Those who switch to the dish will get their wish, because while they will get the games that Fox Sports is presently keeping from them, they will have to pay DirecTV's $5.95-a-month surcharge to see the Dodgers and Angels games on local broadcast stations such as KTLA and KCAL, which we provide at no extra charge.

Other customers have suggested the games be made available on a subscription or pay-per-view basis. We think that's a good idea.

In fact, it was the first proposal we made to Fox. Let's make sure that those loyal fans who want the games can get them at their discretion. Fox dismissed our proposal and denied our request.

It seems we are all held between a rock and a hard place. Murdoch gets us coming or going. And that is what this is really about. It's not about today's Dodgers or Angels game - or even tomorrow's or next week's.

It is about the future affordability of television entertainment, educational and sports programming.

That's why Fox Sports is willing to spend a million dollars to pressure us and our subscribers into paying $1.1 million for extra games this year, whether the majority of our viewers want the games or not.

When you do the math, you realize that, after the cost of the media campaign, Fox will clear no more than $100,000 on the deal. If it was just about the money, Fox could have saved everybody a lot of time and money and heartache and just charged $100,000 for the games. Then we could have all seen the games without interruption - for 3 cents per subscriber.

It doesn't make any economic sense until you realize that this is a shot across the bow for every cable system and every cable subscriber across the country - and I include dish customers in that group.

The message is clear - acquiesce to Murdoch's wishes or face the consequences. Fox is willing to lose money to force people to bend to their will.

Where will it stop?

Each time a cable system caves in to these pressure tactics - and most have - and then passes the cost on to their customers, as all businesses must, local sports teams get farther and farther out of the reach of the average working person, or seniors, or anyone else on a budget.

Three dollars this year. Six dollars the next. No end in sight.

What is the ultimate end to this spiral? Subscription World Series? Pay- per-view Super Bowl?

Programming costs are a cable operator's largest expense, led by sports programming. Some years, programming costs have increased more than 40 percent, while we do our best to hold the line on rate increases at the 4-to-5 percent range, which is about the same as other consumer goods and services.

We understand that cable service is not cheap and we understand that consumers have a choice in how they spend their entertainment dollar. Cable was born of choice - better signal quality, greater programming choices and reliable local service.

We also understand that, even with our occasional failings, we have a responsibility to represent our customers in the business arena. We negotiate on their behalf. We try to offer the best programming we can to satisfy the greatest number of our diverse customers who open their homes and minds to us.

Tom Hoffarth appropriately points out that this is a battle of media giants with the customers caught in the middle. This is true. But if we don't stand up to an uncaring foreign-owned media empire, then who will?

Fox won't even take your calls. Do you really expect them to respond to your wishes?

We are willing take the heat in the short term for the benefit of all our customers in the long run. We believe, over time, we will be proven right. We hope our customers agree with us.

Unlike Fox, we care about our customers and we'd like to hear from you. You can e-mail me at ebrownrefox(at)aol.com or call us at [phone].

By the way, the direct number to Fox where you can actually talk to a person is [phone]. Good luck getting through to them.

SOUND BYTES 

WHAT SMOKES

--In light of Korey Stringer's heat-related death this week, HBO's ``Hard Knocks'' six-part documentary on the Baltimore Ravens' summer training camp should take on added interest after Wednesday's rather uneventful debut, which only really showed that coach Brian Billick knows how to curse well. Too bad the NFL Films slick production couldn't be updated in time for the initial broadcast with reaction to Stringer.

--After what happened last week at Staples Center, Jim Lampley can't guarantee he won't accidentally dislocate his hip again and miss HBO's Saturday boxing broadcast. But considering the pain he endured, he'll do everything possible to avoid that situation. ``I need to be more vigilant for another three to four months or I could destroy the recovery process again,'' said the 51-year-old blow-by-blow broadcaster as he left his doctor's office Thursday. He has had several problems with an artificial- hip replacement that include filing a lawsuit against the maker for defective parts. Lampley dislocated the hip Saturday simply by getting out of a chair after eating dinner. During the ``Boxing After Dark'' coverage from Las Vegas, featuring heavyweights Wladimir Klitschko and Charles Shufford, there will be a replay of last Saturday's original pay-per-view fight that Lampley missed calling, Roy Jones Jr. vs. Julio Gonzalez, at 10 p.m.

WHAT CHOKES

--The current issue of Sports Illustrated for Kids has a cover featuring Michael Jordan in a Washington Wizards uniform and the headline ``What if?'' Here's an answer: What if SI stopped playing on the kids' emotions and did another neato fluff piece on women's soccer instead?

--ESPN's Monday edition of ``SportsCenter'' didn't really use the ``Battle at Bighorn'' as its ``Showcase'' highlight for the night, did it? Watch out, because this week's BASS Masters Classic - now owned by ESPN Enterprises - has already started to get extensive same-day coverage on ESPN2, using college football play-by-play man Ron Franklin as the host with Jerry McKinnis, Tommy Sanders and Fish Fishburne (his real name) as the analysts. Saturday night's final weigh-in - yes, of a fish - wil be a one-hour telecast from the Louisiana Super Dome.

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