I believe its the same story here in CT as Cablevision has ads saying that Fox network will be unavailable if an agreement is not reached.
Several months back, the Food network and HGTV channels were stopped for a while as they hammered out the negoiation.
I think it will be done as customers would complain loud and long as Fox is a big sports channel in addition to the shows mentioned. The world series may be still going on by November 1 not to mention football. What a negotiation tactic to renew one's contract at this time.
It's all about renenues received that will be passed onto customers.