Altice USA CEO Dexter Goei is talking to sports networks about possible rebates on affiliate fees paid during times when no sports are played, adding that while it is still early days, he does expect to get at least some relief.

"We’ve had initial discussions with all of the major sports programmers, both on a regional and national basis,” Goei said on a conference call to discuss Q1 results. "We’re engaging with them currently on these discussions.”

Goei pointed to a letter he and other providers received Wednesday from NY State Attorney General Letitia James, asking operators to investigate offering rebates to customers for the lack of sports programming. 

“We’re in complete agreement with the New York AG,” Goei said. “So this becomes a contract-by-contract discussion with each one of the providers. I can't give you any particular insights because every contract is quite different from the other. But we would expect to get some relief, for sure.”

Sports networks have been without live games since mid-March, when the COVID-19 pandemic effectively shut down every professional sports league. As the drought continues, consumers have gotten increasingly frustrated in paying fees for games they can’t watch.

Comcast, which also owns sports networks, said earlier today that it is speaking with the various leagues about rate relief, and would pass any savings to distributors, who have in turn pledged to return that savings to customers. But the question of whether distributors and networks will get relief depends on the deals they have signed. Most U.S. sports rights deals hinge on a minimum number of games delivered, and so far that does't appear to have been breached.

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In her letter -- which was sent to Altice USA, Comcast, Charter Communications, AT&T, RCN, Dish Network and Verizon -- Attorney General James requested that operators “promptly and voluntarily provide relief to affected New York consumers from high cable television charges,” adding that it is "simply inappropriate for New Yorkers to be burdened by high costs for services that cable providers are not able to deliver, and programming that is a mere vestige of what has been expected. Reducing those burdens is not only legally and practically appropriate, it is clearly the right thing to do."

But James is kind of barking up the wrong tree. Cable operators are charging their customers sports fees because they are still paying rights fees to networks. Most distributors have said they would pass any savings on to customers, but that would mean that the sports networks, which pay rights fees to the respective professional sports leagues, would have to receive relief too.

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“Attorney General James is right to question why consumers are paying for expensive sports programming not being aired because of the COVID-19 emergency, but she has taken aim at the wrong target,” said ACA Connects CEO Matt Polka in a press release.“If Attorney General James truly wishes to address consumers’ concerns about sports programming, we recommend she focus on the root cause of the problem and investigate sports programmers, broadcast networks and sports leagues. The members of ACA Connects, their customers, and other MVPDs have been caught in the middle of these sports and media titans for far too long.”

New York State Attorney General Letitia James has reportedly launched an inquiry to find out whether Charter Communications acted too slowly in allowing its employees, mainly call center workers and technicians, to work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to several reports, a practice that could have led to more than 230 workers contracting the virus and two deaths.

According to a report in the New York Times, more than 230 Charter employees have tested positive for COVID-19, and at least two field workers have died from the virus. About 8,100 Charter workers have signed a month-old petition on change.org complaining about the company’s policies. 

Charter has come under fire for its practices during the pandemic, mainly its decision to keep call center workers and technicians in offices and on the job as other companies were gearing up for allowing employees to work from home. According to some reports, in the early days of the pandemic, Charter call center workers in Ohio were forced to work side by side in tight cubicles on floors with hundreds of employees.

Charter claimed at the time that many of its call center jobs could not be performed from home and that most of the complaints were early in the pandemic, when logistics were still being worked out. But the company later allowed most of its call center employees to work from home.

Charter has about 95,000 employees in 41 states. Of those workers, about 40,000 are in call centers and other offices, with about 55,000 in customer-facing jobs like technicians and retail sales.

Some Charter workers had complained about the company’s practices during the pandemic, including criticizing its offer of $25 restaurant gift certificates instead of hazard pay to tech workers on the front lines.

Charter declined to comment on the AG inquiry but said it has worked hard to keep employees safe during the pandemic and has pledged to increase the minimum wage for its workers from $15 per hour to $20 per hour over the next two years. An initial retroactive $1.50 increase will be implemented immediately for hourly front line employees in the field and customer operation groups and they will receive another permanent $1.50 per hour raise on top of their March 2021 merit increase.

In addition, Charter said it has given every employee an extra 15 days of COVID-19 related flex time and has committed to no layoffs or furloughs for at least 60 days. 

“Over the past three weeks and in accordance with CDC guidelines, we have dramatically reduced the number of employees going into the field or into the office while maintaining the efficacy of our business operations that is so critical to fighting this pandemic,” Charter said in a statement. “The significant majority of office workers and call center employees are remote."

“On our corporate campuses we have a very small percentage of employees who come into the office and those are critical roles that support the field operations,” Charter continued. “Many of those employees are on a rotating remote schedule that allow for minimal interaction, social distancing and we have escalated our cleanings in line with CDC guidelines.”

Charter Communications began parsing out $62.5 million in refunds to its customers in New York state on Tuesday, part of a $174.2 million settlement it reached with the New York State Attorney General last year.

Charter agreed to the settlement in December, a record for a consumer internet business, in connection to a suit brought by the state claiming it defrauded customers by delivering less than advertised internet speeds. 

Affected consumers throughout the state began receiving credits on their March bills of between $75 and $150, depending on what broadband equipment they were using.

According to the AG’s office, current Charter broadband subscribers that leased a DOCSIS 2.0 modem with 20 Megabits per second service or higher or an 802.11n wireless router on a tier of 200 Mbps or higher, or who subscribed to a legacy Time Warner Cable plan of 100 Mbps or higher (as of Feb. 1, 2017) will receive a credit of $75. Subscribers who leased a DOCSIS 2.0 modem on a tier of 20 Mbps or higher for 24 months or more will receive an additional credit.

Internet only subscribers will receive one month of Charter’s Spectrum TV Choice streaming service, where they can (depending on their location) get access to broadcast TV, a choice of 10 pay TV networks and Showtime for one month.

Customers who subscribe to both Charter internet and video service have the choice of receiving either HBO free for three months or Showtime free for six months. Consumers have until May 30 to select the no extra charge premium services they want.

The settlement was made by former AG Barbara Underwood, who called the deal at the time “a wake-up call” to businesses serving New York customers to either live up to their promises or face the consequences. 

Current state Attorney General Letitia James said in a press release that consumers started receiving their payments on Tuesday, March 19.

“Today, New Yorkers will start to receive the tens of millions of dollars and additional services owed to them due to the company’s failure to provide quality services to its customers,” James said in the release. “In issuing the largest-ever consumer payout by an internet service provider, my office is proud to set a higher standard for the way that internet providers accurately market services.”