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Time Warner Cable And Madison Square Garden Resolve Carriage Impasse

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Friday February 17, 2012 @ 12:54pm PSTTags: Glenn Britt, James Dolan, Madison Square Garden, MSG Network, Time Warner Cable

UPDATE, 3:18 PM: MSG just issued a statement saying that it has “a tentative agreement” with Time Warner Cable to carry MSG, MSG+ and Fuse “effective immediately.” The company thanked New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, and NBA Commissioner David Stern. MSG also says that it’s “committed to providing our fans with award-winning programming that continues to warrant their loyalty and allegiance, and we thank them for their patience.” Schneiderman is claiming credit for having “worked diligently with Time Warner Cable and MSG Networks over the last month to bring about a resolution to their dispute.”

PREVIOUS, 1:40 PM: We’ve confirmed that Time Warner Cable will have MSG on for tonight’s game. The No. 2 operator also has agreed to keep carrying Fuse, MSG’s low-rated music channel. MSG would have lost $10M a year in revenue if Time Warner Cable had dropped the channel. But Mike Angus, Time Warner Cable’s SVP Content Acquisition, said in December that fewer than one-tenth of Fuse’s potential viewers tuned in — making MSG’s effort to package it with its popular sports networks “nothing more than a tax on New York sports fans.” 

PREVIOUS, 12:54 PM: New York basketball fans, and owners of Madison Square Garden stock, can rejoice. The 48-day contract dispute that kept regional sports channel MSG off of Time Warner Cable is over — with final terms expected before the New York Knicks’ game tonight with the New Orleans Hornets, Bloomberg reports. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo likely will take a bow. He brought the cable company’s CEO Glenn Britt and MSG chairman Jim Dolan to the table, the New York Times says. MSG shares are up about 3.9% on the news. But much of the credit probably ought to go to New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin, whose historic scoring spree made it unthinkable for the team’s games to be unavailable to about 2.5M households — about a third of all the homes that MSG reaches.

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Music Video Channel Fuse Could Blow Up In Carriage Spat With Time Warner Cable

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Monday December 19, 2011 @ 6:07am PSTTags: Fuse, Madison Square Garden, Time Warner Cable

Execs at marginal cable channels who want to know how determined pay TV operators are to clear away what they consider programming deadwood should keep an eye on the carriage spat between Madison Square Garden and Time Warner Cable. They’re engaged in the season’s hottest battle over programming costs as they negotiate renewal terms for their current contract that expires on December 31. Per usual, there’s a lot of noise about who’d be most responsible for inconveniencing consumers if there’s in impasse — with most of the focus on the possible loss of popular regional sports channels MSG and MSG+, which carry the New York Knicks, Rangers, Islanders, Devils, and Buffalo Sabres. MSG has a hotline (1-888-keepmsg) that encourages Time Warner Cable customers to jump to another pay TV provider. “As excitement builds for the return of the NBA, Time Warner Cable is threatening to pull MSG Networks from its systems,” the programmer says. The cable company says that “the ball’s in MSG’s court, so these channels will come off only if MSG pulls the plug.”

But the most important issue is whether the No. 2 cable company will be able to drop MSG’s music video channel Fuse from its lineup — potentially resulting in $10M a year in lost revenue for MSG. “Fuse is watched by fewer than one-tenth of one percent of the customers who have it available — that’s just 4,000 customers out of more than 7.4M,” says Mike Angus, Time Warner Cable’s SVP Content Acquisition. MSG’s effort to package the music service with its popular regional sports channels “is nothing more than a tax on New York sports fans.”  MSG says that Fuse “appeals to a growing audience of a desirable demographic and its unique partnership with MSG Entertainment ensures it offers programming, access, and promotion that no one else can.” The average pay TV provider pays about six cents a month for each customer who receives Fuse, SNL Kagan estimates. Read More »

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Media Stocks Up On Strong Holiday Sales And Hope Of European Debt Solution

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Monday November 28, 2011 @ 9:40am PSTTags: Big Media, CBS, Cinedigm, Comcast, Crown Media, Disney, Madison Square Garden, Netflix, News Corp, RealD, Sinclair Broadcasting, Sony, Time Warner, Viacom, Westwood One

Shoppers spent a record $52.4B over the four-day Thanksgiving weekend, up 16% from last year, the National Retail Federation says. Add that to reports that European leaders are getting serious about resolving their debt crisis, and it’s easy … Read More »

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UPDATE: Madison Square Garden Scrambles For Concerts To Replace Lost NBA Games

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Friday November 4, 2011 @ 5:42am PDTTags: Madison Square Garden, Madison Square Garden Co, MSG, MSG Earnings

UPDATE, 8:10 AM: MSG CEO Hank Ratner told analysts that he can’t say much about the lockout “in light of (NBA) league restrictions.” But it has created problems. “We are exploring opportunities to bring other live events to the Garden” to replace the lost games, he says. It’s been tough to do so at the last minute, though. Ratner has scheduled two performances and adds that “we’re going to use the influence that we have as Madison Square Garden to schedule as many dates as we can.” Can companies that have bought suites at the Garden cancel them? The company says not to worry — but won’t give specifics. Season-ticket holders can get refunds, including for the eight Knicks home dates that have been lost. MSG is required to send the cash out within 10 days and include a 1% annual interest rate payment retroactive to October 1. The company says the lost games won’t cause its sports TV channels to run afoul of its cable and satellite affiliation agreements. The deals have provisions for work stoppages; hockey and Knicks-related programs will fill in for some of the lost games. MSG Media President Mike Bair says that “the vitality of the market for hockey has been better than last year and better than our plan.” Meanwhile the company continues to upgrade the Garden, and says the total bill should come to $980M.

PREVIOUS, 5:42 AM: We’ll have to wait for the company’s quarterly conference call with analysts to find out what how badly the NBA lockout might hurt the owner of the New York Knicks, MSG regional sports networks, and the Madison Square Garden arena. There was no mention of it in this morning’s earnings report. But the disruption follows a strange quarter as the company closed Madison Square Garden and the Theater at Madison Square Garden for upgrades. MSG reported net income of $21.3M, up 10.5% vs the same period last year, on revenues of $177.6M, down 6.9%. The revenue figure was well ahead of the $173.88M that analysts expected. And earnings, at 28 cents a share, zoomed past the 10 cents the Street anticipated. Read More »

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Jim Dolan Joins Live Nation Board After Company Says He Can Still Be A Competitor

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Thursday June 30, 2011 @ 2:19pm PDTTags: AMC Networks, Cablevision, Cablevison James L. Dolan, Live Nation Entertainment, Madison Square Garden, Ticketmaster

The mind-numbing network of interlocking corporate relationships at Live Nation — the No. 1 concert promoter and owner of Ticketmaster — just became much more complicated with the announcement that Jim Dolan is joining its board of directors. He’s a power in live entertainment in his role as executive chairman of Madison Square Garden — a major owner of concert venues (Radio City Music Hall, The Beacon Theater, The Chicago Theater), sports teams (New York’s Knicks and Rangers) and media outlets (MSG network and music channel Fuse). Dolan’s also CEO of Cablevision Systems, a director of AMC Networks, and a Live Nation client in his role as lead singer and guitarist for blues band Read More »

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Lady Gaga: Finally, Some Decent HBO TV

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Sunday May 8, 2011 @ 8:09am PDTTags: HBO, Lady Gaga, Madison Square Garden

I never quite understood the appeal of Lady Gaga until I saw HBO’s Monster Ball Tour concert special from Madison Square Garden last night. It showcased her versatility as a singer, songwriter, musician, and dancer and not just another Madonna-wannabe novelty … Read More »

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