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Councilman Fights to End Blackouts on Cable

By Frank Lombardi -- New York Daily News, 11/15/2007

City Councilman Tony Avella called Wednesday for a mandatory arbitration clause to be included in the city's cable television franchises to prevent future blackouts of programming.

Avella (D-Bayside), the chairman of the Council's Zoning and Franchises Subcommittee, cited the season-long blackout of Yankees games in 2002 for 3 million Cablevision subscribers and the two-month blackout of Mets games in 2005.

The Yankees' blackout involved Cablevision and the Mets' disruption involved both Cablevision and Time Warner - the two cable giants that have long held the city's cable television franchises, which come up for renewal next year.

"With the cable franchises for Cablevision and Time Warner coming up for renewal for the first time in 10 years, we must use this opportunity to protect consumers from arbitrary and self-serving decisions by 'Big Cable,'" Avella said at a press conference on the steps of City Hall.

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