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Time Warner Cable’s placement of its new SportsNet...

Time Warner Cable’s placement of its new SportsNet LA network on its basic tier will cause Los Angeles subscribers to pay an additional $60 per year, said broadcaster advocacy group TV Freedom in a blog post Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1fUmtU1). A Time…

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Warner Cable deal with the L.A. Dodgers to air all of the team’s regular season games for the next 25 years on SportsNet LA cost $8.35 billion, a “hefty pricetag” that will motivate TWC to “force” subscribers to pay higher fees, TV Freedom said. Time Warner Cable is also negotiating with DirecTV, Dish Network and Cox Communications to allow them to offer the channel, which would translate to higher fees for their subscribers as well, TV Freedom said. “At a time when it’s increasing rates for its own programming, and forcing all of its customers to pay for a channel some may not want, TWC is in Washington seeking government assistance to change the rules of the game on retransmission consent negotiations related to TV broadcast programming.” Time Warner Cable didn’t comment. The company agreed in February to be bought for about $45 billion by Comcast.