Football Fans Fuming Over Fox Flat-Line

Football fans in Port Washington are fuming over the Cablevision/Fox feud that has stripped them off their comfy couches and into the stools of the local pub, Sullivan's Quay.

"I'm disgusted," says Keith Caldwell, a 57-year-old marketing rep who lives in Port Washington and would normally have been at home watching Sunday's NFL matchup between the Giants and Lions. Sullivan's Quay has Direct TV. 

"They have all this money and they can't work out a deal. I hope as a Cablevision customer, I get some kind of refund. And who knows how long it's going to go before they finally reach a deal. I called that 1-800 number and they give you a little recording that you can voice your opinion on and that's all."

Lee Candela, a 25-year-old teacher in Port Washington, agrees:

"I think it's doing people an injustice, especially through Cablevision," he says. "A lot of people around here are pretty loyal customers. I have Cablevision, but now I have to come out here to watch football and I can't watch it from the comfort of my own house.  It's a little ridiculous that they're not going to go to bat for their customers. It's Sunday morning, you wake up, you feel good, you're in your pjs, you want to watch some football."

Matt Ciancimino, a 22-year-old financial adviser who lives right down the street thinks it's "absolutely terrible" and fears that Fox and Cablevision won't come to an agreement right before the baseball playoffs.

"It's not fair," he sighs, while chugging a beer back with a friend.

Fox, which is owned by News Corp. is asking for more than $150 million more from Cablevision, which already pays $70 million to access 12 Fox channels. On Thursday, Cablevision said it would be willing to submit to binding arbitration so that Fox wouldn't stop programming. But News Corp. rejected the call for arbitration.

Even the local firehouse is a Cablevision customer, and one volunteer fireman is not happy.

Tom McDonough Jr., a 22-year-old educational assistant and volunteer fireman is a huge Giants fan, and was wearing a Giants jersey and pajama pants at Sullivan's Quay.

"I'd rather be at the firehouse watching it on the 32-inch plasma TV," he says. "They need to get it over with. It's very annoying."

Not everyone was lashing out at Cablevision, either.

Jeff Segal, a 53-year-old Port Washington resident, who works for Five Guys restaurant, thinks Fox is the one to blame.

"I am for Cablevision," he says. "Fox is looking to get as much as money as they can. The bottom-line is that Fox isn't better in any way shape or form than ABC, NBC, CBS and Univision combined. I hate the Dolans with a red, hot passion, almost as much as I hate the Yankees. This is wrong and the only people who are paying the price are us. My Sundays are ruined because of their fighting." The Dolan family runs and operates Cablevision.

Segal and his friend Larry Potter, a 53-year-old salesman from Port Washington, were leaving the bar to go to their friend's house who is a Verizon FiOS customer, to watch the second half of the game.

"It would be great if Direct TV extorted Fox and said we're going to stop carrying you as well," says Potter. "Either get sensible or nobody is going to carry you and then all their power goes away."

The Manzino family, who was waiting for a table in the crowded restaurant with their baby boy Max, also came to Sullivan's to watch the game.

"The corporate disputes shouldn't really interfere with the public getting news and information," says Craig Manzino, a 35-year-old CPA from Port Washington. "Whether they work out a deal, that's fine. But once you agree to be a media company, you really shouldn't withhold media from the public because of your own corporate disagreements."

And Staten Island resident Richard Squillari, who was in Port Washington visiting his sister-in-law, thinks the government should step in.

"The government should step in and put some sort of temporary resolution in there and let them solve the money later," he says. "Because this is a live event. No one can see it later on and no one cares to. TV shows are a little different. But a game. Especially when you have the baseball playoffs going on?"

Still, Sullivan's Quay wasn't complaining.

"There's a definitely a lot more people here considering that the game is not on Cablevision," says Carie Raymond, a hostess who lives in Port Washington.