Just in time for the NLCS and the World Series, the very public slap fight between NewsCorp and Cablevision hit an impasse on Friday night, with Cablevision subscribers in the New York City and Philadelphia metro areas no longer having access to their local Fox affiliates.

This sting will be felt by fans of the Philadelphia Phillies (aka the greatest team in the history of baseball, even during all the years they really sucked), whose National League Championship Series games are set to begin airing on Fox on Saturday night.

As has become standard with these broadcaster/provider disputes, both sides are doing their best to point the blame finger at the other.

“We deeply regret that Cablevision refuses to recognize the value of our programming,” said some Fox suit in a statement.

Meanwhile, Cablevision has taken the high road by posting not-at-all-inflammatory statements on their site like “In an act of corporate greed, News Corp has pulled FOX 5 and My9 from your Cablevision channel lineup. This is an unfortunate attempt to get unreasonable and unfair fee increases from Cablevision and our customers.”

Fox is also in the middle of a similar fracas with satellite provider Dish Network. The broadcaster has already pulled access to more than a dozen local Fox Sports outlets from Dish while the two sides hash out a deal.

In the end, it doesn’t really matter who is to blame in these kinds of fights. It will eventually end up with the two parties coming to an agreement — and with customers being charged more.

What do you think of broadcasters and providers making their fights public — Does it serve to educate consumers or merely muddle the waters?

Cablevision Drops Fox [NewsCorp Press Release]

NewsCorp wants over $150 million [Cablevision Statement]

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