Related: Time Warner Cable, Bright House Boost Charter in Q2
Charter chairman and CEO Tom Rutledge said recent litigation from Fox and Univision regarding its policy of adopting the lower Time Warner Cable rate card for all of its programming deals, a move that the content providers believe violates their contracts, was expected and is part of the overall negotiating process.
Univision and Fox sued Charter in July, claiming that the operator contends that it was purchased by Time Warner Cable instead of the other way around. The programmers have disputed that claim.
On a conference call with analysts to discuss its second quarter results, Rutledge said that the litigation was not a surprise.
“The nature of programming relationships hasn’t fundamentally changed,” Rutledge said. “It’s still a contentious, contractual environment. Generally we have good relationships with our programmers. I think the litigation is part of the negotiating process in general. It’s going about where we thought it would go.”
