The threatened cable TV blackout of Knicks and Rangers games starting New Year’s Day is officially off – at least for a while.
A simmering public dispute that would have unplugged the games in about 1.2 million local homes wired by Time Warner Cable has settled into a temporary cooling-off period.
Just five days before the blackout would have started, Time Warner Cable and arch-rival Cablevision agreed yesterday to extend a Dec. 31 expiration date on contracts for carrying Cablevision’s regional sports networks – MSG and Fox Sports New York, which air the Knicks and Rangers games.
The impasse is over how much Cablevision could charge for providing the popular sports programming to Time Warner Cable, the nation’s second-largest cable system.
A joint statement yesterday said the parties had agreed to keep negotiating beyond the deadline, but gave no other details on their pricing dispute.
News Corp., which owns The Post, also holds a stake in Fox Sports New York.
The channels agreed to extend their current agreements – that were set to expire New Year’s Eve – while they hammer out a new pact.
“During this extension period, Time Warner Cable customers in New York City as well as those in the suburban area and upstate will continue to see MSG Network and Fox Sports Net New York on the channels they currently occupy, after the New Year,” a statement said.
Time Warner said earlier it had asked Cablevision for an extension to keep negotiating, which Cablevision had denied as of last week. Cablevision threatened at the time to sue Time Warner Cable for copyright infringement if it continued to carry the channels after the agreement expired.
Time Warner has declined to specify how much more in programming fees Cablevision is seeking, but said Cablevision is resisting efforts to let Time Warner carry the channels on a premium basis.
Time Warner has said that Cablevision would allow MSG and FSNY to be offered as premium channels – provided that Time Warner pay Cablevision for all of the former’s 1.2 million subscribers.
Cablevision denied that, however, saying it had offered Time Warner “the opportunity to allow its customers to choose whether or not to receive these well-established regional sports networks.”
Played out
A deal yesterday to keep Knicks and Rangers games on Time Warner Cable caps a year of squabbling among New York’s cable providers and sports networks.
Mid-March – Cablevision agrees to carry the YES Network, which shows Yankees games, but only on a premium tier.
– At the same time, Cablevision agrees to offer its own sports networks – MSG and Fox Sports New York, which air Knicks and Rangers games – on a premium basis.
June 12 – Time Warner Cable begins offering customers the chance to opt out of YES.
Aug. 30 – YES sues Time Warner Cable over the la carte offering.
Dec. 18 – After a fee dispute with Cablevision, Time Warner Cable warns customers they could lose MSG and FSNY.
Dec. 26 – Time Warner Cable reaches a temporary deal to continue broadcasting MSG and FSNY after the current contract expires Dec. 31.