FiOS-FOX fight finds fans furious

The dispute between Verizon and the local FOX television outlet is dragging on, and customers are growing tired of it all.The issue is rebroadcasting rights. Verizon, which provides Internet, telephone and cable TV service via a fiber optics system, FiOS, claims the Cox Media Group, which owns WFXT-Channel 25 in Boston, is asking for too much of an increase in the fee it charges the cable company to carry the channel.This left several thousand area viewers, especially football fans, on the outside looking in when Dallas and Philadelphia played in the Cowboys? annual Thanksgiving Day home game.For many area viewers, the inability to watch that game. along with Sunday?s New Orleans-Pittsburgh contest and regular FOX programming, has them feeling the burn.?It?s kind of silly,” said Lynn resident Theresa Surette. “I?m not as wrapped up in football as some people, but I think it?s only a matter of time before we see this happen with another station. It?s all about the money and who has the power.”The spat between the two began when Cox took control of the station as part of a trade with 21st Century Fox in October. The two companies had been negotiating since then to find a fair price for Verizon to carry WFXT, but they were unable to come to an agreement by Thursday morning?s deadline.?I?m not happy about it at all,” said Lynn?s Bob “Moona” Mullins. “It?s a terrible thing, but it?s all about the money and two, billion-dollar companies that don?t want to budge.”The darkening of WFXT came as somewhat of a surprise for most Verizon subscribers, including Mullins, who watch the channel on a regular basis.?I noticed it right away because I watch their news in the morning,” Mullins said. “And I turned it on Thursday and it wasn?t there. It?s a hit, no doubt about it. It?s a shame they couldn?t cut a deal. Hopefully it?s just temporary because I enjoy watching the football on there too.”For Lynn?s Dick Newton, losing the channel is tough, yes. But it also isn?t as big of an inconvenience for sports fans who have the service.?I have 400 stations with Verizon,” Newton said. “Losing FOX isn?t a big deal. There are plenty of good stations out there, and there?s always ESPN for the sports junkies.”One of the ways some people found to get around the dispute was to hook up an old converter box to their TVs, giving them access to local channels. One of those was Lynn?s Pete Dow.?I have FiOS, but I also have the converter box, so I can watch the local channels for free,” Dow said. “Still, it?s crazy. I?m one of the ones paying (for cable). I?m lucky that I could plug in (the converter box) and watch the game.”With no resolution to the dispute on the horizon anytime soon, Surette had an idea of how to get the message across to those involved.?Maybe we should all smarten up and go back to basic TV and just watch a few channels,” Surette said. “I don?t know who is doing the negotiating, but I don?t think they?re doing it in good faith.”