War over Linsanity Ends between MSG and Times Cable Network

After a one-and-a-half month blackout, Time Warner Cable Inc. subscribers will now again be free to watch the New York Knicks and New York Rangers hockey games.

A new agreement between Madison Square Garden Co., the owners of MSG Network sports channel and Knicks, and The Time Warner Cable Inc. broadcast rights of Knicks games has been renewed. The companies did not reveal specific terms of the agreement, but it came into effect on Friday, in time for TWC subscribers to watch Linsanity unfolding in their backyard.

Brean Murray analyst Todd Mitchell observed that “At this point given the phenomenon of the situation that is Jeremy Lin, I don’t think they had much choice.”

According to previous reports, Time Warner’s broadcast carriage agreement with MSG expired on December 31, and the companies were unable to decide on a new agreement as following Linsanity, MSG wanted a 53% increase over previous rates.

The Dolan family owns both MSG and Knicks, the New York Rangers and Cablevision Systems Corp.

Compared to other types of coverage, live sports coverage fetches the highest rates as they remain within the few kinds of live programming viewed by people with camaraderie and are thus able to attract top dollars in advertisements.

According to estimates by SNL Kagan, operators pay about $2.63 per sub per month for the right to carry MSG feeds. ESPN costs the highest with an average fee of $ 4.69.

It has been reported that following widespread public displeasure, New York public officials decided to intervene and help to solve the dispute between the two companies which run rival networks.

Eric Schneiderman, the New York Attorney General said, “our office has worked diligently with Time Warner Cable and MSG Networks over the last month to bring about a resolution to their dispute.”

Andrew Cuomo, the Governor of New York released a statement expressing his admiration for James Dolan, the CEO of MSG and for Glenn Britt, CEO of TWC, for “being responsive to the needs of New Yorkers.”

The news of the agreement was first reported by New York Times on Friday.

The agreement may not have been possible without public pressure and involvement of public officials who decided to act on behalf of the people of New York. It has been reported that the CEOs of both companies agreed to sit down only after City Council speaker Christine Quinn threatened to call a public hearing and make the CEOs answer to the public of New York over their behavior.