Time Warner Cable says that the price increase being asked for by Madison Square Garden for its MSG Network is “way out of line,” and is at the heart of a dispute that could see MSG pulled from the Time Warner lineup at the end of the year.
“MSG wants a 53 percent increase in the price we currently pay. We buy sports all over the country and New Yorkers understand that a 53 percent increase is way out of line,” said Time Warner Cable spokesperson Eric Mangan. “MSG is also insisting that we carry FUSE, which is a music network that is watched by 0.6 percent of our customers. If we don’t carry FUSE, they have threatened to double the rate they charge for MSG. We value sports and understand that costs are rising, which is why we’re willing to pay the 6.5 percent increase that MSG originally wanted. MSG has now reneged on that offer.”
Time Warner Cable services much of the upstate New York area, many of the New York City boroughs and parts of New Jersey. MSG currently carries games for the New York Knicks and four NHL teams — The New York Islanders, New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres.
The agreement between Time Warner and MSG expires December 31.