MSG Media accused Time Warner Cable on Friday of threatening to remove its networks, MSG and MSG Plus, from its systems in the New York and Buffalo markets on Dec. 31 in a contractual dispute that could deprive viewers of Knicks, Rangers, Islanders, Devils and Sabres games. Â Read more after the jump.
Michael Bair, the president of MSG Media, a unit of Madison Square Garden, said efforts to reach a deal for the past two years had failed. “Unfortunately, Time Warner Cable is not interested in reaching a fair agreement, and, in fact, is not interested in conducting productive negotiations,†he said in a statement. MSG is asking Time Warner to “pay fair and reasonable rates consistent with what others pay.â€
Maureen Huff, a spokeswoman for Time Warner Cable, said: “They now want a 53 percent increase, and twice that if we refuse to carry Fuse. That would make MSG the most expensive sports network in the country.†Time Warner on Friday dropped Fuse, MSG Media’s music channel.
Huff also said that MSG “reneged†on an agreement earlier this year that called for a 6.5 percent increase in the rate that Time Warner pays.
Subsequently, Barry Watkins, an MSG spokesman, said that the acquisition by the Knicks of Carmelo Anthony, the 100 percent rise in Knicks ratings and Time Warner Cable’s multibillion dollar deal with the Lakers had changed the sports rights landscape.
“Their last deal was signed in ’05,†he wrote in an e-mail, and the fees are “way below what is currently market rate for our product.â€
This is to prep us for the hike in fee’s for keeping time warner as a cable company,they work it out eventually but those who have time warner will pay for it…Seen this song & dance B 4 between these 2