Andre Yoskowitz
1 Jan 2012 21:51
After years of negotiations, MSG has been removed from Time Warner Cable's lineup leaving sports fans in New York without Knicks, Rangers, Sabres, Devils or Islanders games.
The two companies have been fighting over how much MSG should be paid and each have had an ad campaign blasting the other side. MSG was asking for a 53 percent price increase for their sports programming. Both companies continue to negotiate, but for the New Year, cable subscribers are left with nothing but a blacked out channel.
Michael Blair, president of MSG Media, had this to say of the situation: "All we have asked is for Time Warner Cable to value our programming in the same way as other TV providers -nothing more, nothing less. Unfortunately, they rejected every offer we made to them for almost two years. In the end, they were simply not interested in conducting serious negotiations on behalf of their customers and instead spent their time grossly mischaracterizing our positions to the public."
MSG is urging consumers to switch cable providers, but unfortunately many in New York City do not have any other options. If you are not in an area with Cablevision or Verizon FioS, Time Warner has a complete monopoly.
Time Warner, for its part, says 40 percent of the remaining Knicks' games this season will still be available as they are on channels like ESPN, TNT or YES. Hockey fans are less lucky as Time Warner says it can only provide 30 percent of the remaining Ranger's games, and less than 20 percent of other teams. Time Warner will give subscribers a free month of the Time Warner Cable Sports Pass, which provides access to more than 15 sports channels and free access to NBA League Pass.