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Time Warner announced today the price they will be asking from cable companies for the Time Warner Sports Network set to launch this fall. The LA Galaxy broadcasts will move from KDOC to Time Warner as soon as the channel launches with the new Los Angeles Lakers season. The Lakers were likely a large factor in the price point.
The planned regional sports networks, one in English and another in Spanish, will be sold for $3.95 per subscriber to the cable systems inside the Los Angeles Designated Market Area. The LA DMA comprises LA County as well as Orange County, San Bernadino County, Riverside County, and Ventura County. Outside of the LA DMA, TWC will be asking $1.25 per subscriber.
Earlier this month, the LA Times wrote that industry experts were expecting somewhere between $2.50 and $3.50 per subscriber. Distributors pay more than $5 a subscriber combined for Fox Sport West and Fox Sports Prime Ticket. Despite losing the Lakers, Fox is expected to hold the line on price.
As of right now, TWC holds the rights to the Lakers, Galaxy, and Sparks. They are also expected to make a bid on the Dodgers when their TV rights deal is up at the end of this season. There's no way of knowing if Dish Network or AT&T U-verse will pick up the new RSN, but those two providers have already had a sports related controversy this year choosing not to pay extra for 15 Angels games that were switched from KCOP to Fox Sports West under the new TV contract the Angels signed.