Time Warner Cable

How bad did Time Warner Cable want to get the TV rights to the Los Angeles Dodgers away from Fox Sports' Prime Ticket channel? So bad that the cable operator promised the team that it would cover fees from other distributors who don't sign on to carry the channel, people familiar with the deal said. The agreement is expected to be announced this week, perhaps later Thursday. In other words, if DirecTV, for example, does not sign on to carry the new Dodgers channel, Time Warner Cable will pay the subscription fees until a deal could be reached with the satellite broadcaster.

Time Warner Cable SportsNet has added Kurt Rambis to the broadcast crew for select Lakers games this season. Rambis has a rich history with the organization, as a player during the Showtime era, assistant coach and even head coach (albeit briefly). The Lakers' first official broadcast, not including preseason, will be on Oct. 30 when the Lakers visit the Portland Trail Blazers. Rambis will join "#LakeShow," in studio with Chris McGee, Andy Adler, James Worthy and Dave Miller.

The endless Twitter messages Jeanie Buss receives in her inbox mostly center on one thing - concern from Laker fans on whether their cable subscriber will feature Time Warner Cable SportsNet, which has a 20-year, $3-billion agreement to showcase Lakers programming including all their games. As The Times' Joe Flint reported, no cable outfit has agreed to TWC's asking price of an additional $3.95 per month to carry the channel. Buss, the Lakers' executive vice president of business operations, conceded that she doesn't have the channel, either.

The Dodgers are leaning toward moving their television broadcasts from Fox Sports to Time Warner Cable starting in 2014, according to people familiar with the matter but not authorized to discuss it. The Dodgers have not made a final decision, the people said. The Dodgers also have yet to reach agreement with Major League Baseball on how the structure of a deal would affect the team's contribution to the MLB revenue-sharing system, according to a person familiar with the discussions but not authorized to comment on them.

Facing a backlash from TV viewers furious at the prospect of losing "SpongeBob SquarePants" and "Dora the Explorer," two media giants reached a new programming agreement that keeps those popular cartoon characters on the channels of the country's second-largest cable operator. Viacom Inc. had threatened to pull 19 of its cable channels, including Nickelodeon, MTV, VH-1 and Comedy Central, from the Time Warner Cable Inc. systems at midnight Wednesday when their previous two-year contract expired.

There are things you can count on every year ? the changing of the seasons, the happy faces of kids during the holidays ? higher cable rates. Time Warner Cable is notifying Southern California customers that their cable bills are about to go up yet again, with higher charges for pretty much everything the company offers, from TV to Internet access. The $3 monthly rate hike for basic service follows an identical increase in April for about 500,000 local subscribers and higher bills for the remainder of Time Warner's nearly 2 million SoCal customers a few months earlier.

Time Warner Cable subscribers can now take a lot of their television lineup with them on the road. The cable company, which has more than 2 million subscribers in Southern California, is now offering its customers the ability to access content from popular cable channels such as MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon via Apple's tablet devices and mobile phones. The agreement is unique because it will allow Time Warner Cable subscribers to view content even if they are not in an area serviced by the cable company.

Time Warner Cable found an unusual way to land programming for its regional sports channel in Southern California. College football and basketball games from San Diego State, University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and Fresno State will appear Time Warner Cable SportsNet, which launches in October and is already home to the Lakers and the Galaxy. To get the rights, Time Warner Cable had to do a little wheeling and dealing with CBS. According to people familiar with the matter, CBS Sports Network, a cable channel that focuses primarily on college sports, agreed to swap the rights to the games in return for greater distribution on Time Warner Cable systems.

Roku, the maker of devices for streaming music and video in the home, bolstered its entertainment offerings with the addition of Time Warner Cable, Blockbuster on Demand and Fox Now -- among other services. The company said it has surpassed 700 channels on the Roku platform with Monday's addition of more television, music and games. Roku announced nine additional video partners, bringing shows from PBS, SyFy and A&E, new audio services, including iHeart Radio and Spotify, and interactive entertainment from Big Fish and others.

Lakers fans aren't the only ones cheering the recent additions of Steve Nash and Dwight Howard to the team's starting lineup. Time Warner Cable is also probably sending Lakers brass a big thank-you note. In October, Time Warner Cable will launch both English-language and Spanish-language sports channels in Los Angeles, and a strong Lakers team is key to the company's success. The addition of two superstars to the team will give the cable company a little more juice in negotiations for distribution with satellite broadcasters DirecTV and Dish as well as AT&T's Uverse and other pay-TV providers in the region.