Selling those products depends on having access to transmission lines. Imagine that we were not talking about information highways but about asphalt highways. Imagine that Time Warner's monopoly was not of cable lines running under the streets, but of the streets themselves. Imagine that Time Warner decided to prohibit a locally manufactured car from using the roads. But a competitive marketplace is not operating here.
Cable is a monopoly.
Ted Turner appears unwilling to lease Murdoch a channel even if Murdoch were willing to pay more than the present tenant. New Yorkers have no direct influence on Time Warner. They have much more influence over their democratically elected mayor. I wish I could have heard where the candidates stand in the case of Time Warner vs. the City of New York.