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| Posted By | Discussion Topic: Yankees dump MSG Network | ||||
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| TeenWeek what's a status? | posted on 06-21-2001 @ 8:51 AM |    | |||
| O&A Board Regular Registered: Oct. 00  | Yanks Pull Plug on MSG By ADAM RUBIN and PHYLLIS FURMAN Daily News Staff Writers he Yankees officially dumped MSG Network yesterday, paving the way to start their own regional cable channel beginning as early as March 2002. In a meeting of its board, YankeeNets — which owns the Yankees, Nets and Devils — authorized paying $30 million in three installments to buy out MSG's rights to televise 85 Yankee games next year. The move means the severing of MSG's 13-year relationship with the Bombers after this season. It gives YankeeNets the local rights to 150 Yankee games in 2002. The Yankees believe forming their own cable network with the Nets and the Devils — whose TV deals have yet to expire — will be more profitable than the teams individually selling rights to televise their games. YankeeNets had until tomorrow to authorize the payment to MSG under the terms of an April 24 settlement. MSG reaches about eight million viewers in the New York area on Cablevision, Comcast and Time Warner Cable, so YankeeNets will have to make deals with those cable systems. "We've had conversations with them," Time Warner Cable spokesman Mike Luftman said before the YankeeNets announcement. "If they exercise the option to regain the rights to the games, we would be interested. Our customers want to see the Yankees and we want to provide the games." Luftman said terms haven't been discussed. YankeeNets hasn't yet hired a staff, according to a company spokesman. Cablevision, which owns MSG, now must decide how to deal with YankeeNets in order to carry Yankee games on a new sports-cable station. "We have always carried the Yankees," a Cablevision spokesman said. "We would certainly expect to carry them in the future." Said media consultant Jack Myers: "They would almost have to carry it. The question is, what would the economics be?" The Yankees' departure could be a "serious blow" to MSG, which has grown significantly while carrying the Yankees, according to Myers. "The Yankees provide them with their primary audience draw in the summer," Myers said. "They would have to find a viable replacement and that would be expensive." Cablevision also owns Fox Sports New York, which carries the Mets. So a potential move to cushion the blow to MSG could be to shift some Mets games from FSNY to MSG. MSG President Seth Abraham said the YankeeNets' decision didn't blindside his network. "We are in the process now of devising what I would call our 'designated-hitting' programming," Abraham said. "We're not far along in our plans." Abraham said MSG will remain a sports network and won't create programming like "the sports version of Survivor." He said the people at MSG realize there's a life cycle in sports-rights deals. He cited CBS losing, then regaining National Football League programming as an example — although in this scenario, YankeeNets becomes a competition for MSG. "It's not a funeral here," Abraham said  | ||||
The sky is blue | posted on 06-22-2001 @ 10:13 PM | | |||
| O&A Board Veteran Registered: Oct. 00 | That sucks, I've been watching MSG for years :( | ||||
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