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FCC MAY PLAY HUGE PART IN IMUS’ TV FUTURE

By
Peter Lauria
Published Nov. 15, 2007, 10:00 a.m. ET

If RFD-TV, the start-up cable network focused on life in rural America, manages to get carried on systems like Comcast or Time Warner Cable, it more likely will have Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin to thank rather than recently signed talk-show host Don Imus.

While RFD-TV boss Patrick Gottsch hopes that the deal to syndicate the returning cowboy’s radio show to television will force Comcast, Time Warner and Cablevision to carry his network, sources said Martin’s push to get cable operators to give more access to independent networks will likely hold more sway.

“Recent FCC attempts at re-regulating the cable industry will make it easier to get carriage for independent networks [like the Hallmark Channel and NFL Network],” said Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Tom Eagan.

The same goes for RFD-TV. The network is currently available in about 30 million homes through satellite operators DirecTV and EchoStar, cable operators Mediacom and Charter and a handful of smaller outfits.

Gottsch hopes that over the next two years he can add 20 million homes for a total of 50 million.

Key to hitting Gottsch’s distribution target are agreements with Cablevision, Comcast and Time Warner, which collectively serve about 40 million subscribers.

In an interview with The Post, Gottsch said he plans to charge about 10 cents per subscriber for RFD-TV and was in the final stages of negotiations with Comcast and Time Warner.

Gottsch’s talks with Comcast and Time Warner would only give him permission to negotiate with each local market within the companies’ footprint for carriage. Hence, the Imus hire.

Gottsch is banking on Imus’ political clout and loyal urban fan base to help get RFD-TV carriage in major markets like New York and Washington, D.C.

That might be a tough sell, however, given that Imus’ TV ratings were even lower than his radio ratings, which didn’t even rank in the top 10 in the New York market.

Reps for Cablevision, Comcast and Time Warner declined to comment.