NY Reps Push for Altice/Starz Deal

A couple of New York Democratic House members are calling on Altice and Starz to resolve their carriage dispute, according to a copy of the letter obtained by Multichannel News.

In a joint letter to Altice Chairman Dexter Goei and Starz President Chris Albrecht, Brooklyn Reps. Hakeem Jeffries and Yvette Clarke urged a "mutually agreeable" decision that restored access to such shows as Power to their district's residents.

Related: Starz Tells Altice to Cease and Desist

The letter from the politicians was, well, politic.

They said that while they understood Altice's need to keep operational costs "at a reasonable level," they also "strongly" understood that Starz had an interest in receiving a fair price its "quality, diverse programming" that is representative of their constituents' diversity. "This programming is of particular importance to the African American community, they said.

"We urge both sides to engage in good faith negotiations and come to a mutually agreeable resolution," they wrote.

Both are members of the Multicultural Media Caucus.

Starz went dark to Altice USA subs Jan. 1.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.