Latest in MSG Network

With the curtain set to go up on the NBA and NHL season, MSG Network is alerting viewers that it is nearing a potential blackout on Comcast Xfinity cable systems in New Jersey and Connecticut. Comcast, though it is the No. 1 U.S. cable operator, has virtually no customers in New York City, but a healthy six-figure…

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…

The live entertainment and cable network company’s shares are hitting record highs as even non-basketball fans become fascinated with New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin’s historic scoring streak. MSG’s at $32.24 in midday trading, up 3.5% vs Friday — and +11.3% so far in the month of February. The timing couldn’t…

SUNDAY 12:49 PM, 4TH UPDATE: No progress. The war of words continues with Time Warner saying that the cable system had reached an agreement “last year” to pay MSG the 6.5% price hike it requested at the time. TWC says MSG without warning reneged on that agreement and came back with a new demand for a 53% increase and…

It will be interesting to see whether Cablevision ever discloses how much it spent on legal bills since 2009 to prevent customers of Verizon’s FiOS and AT&T’s U-verse from seeing HD feeds of MSG and MSG+. The regional sports channels are owned by Madison Square Garden, a company that’s controled by the Dolan family…

One of cable’s most irksome long-running battles isn’t over yet: Cablevision is appealing an FCC order that requires MSG — which the cable operator controls — to offer HD feeds of its two New York regional sports channels to Verizon FiOS and AT&T U-verse. That announcement followed a statement from Verizon…

The FCC today has ruled that a pair of high-definition regional sports channels operated by Madison Square Garden must be offered to Verizon’s FiOS and AT&T’s U-Verse video services. The move comes after the phone companies filed a complaint in July that said MSG hindered competition by refusing  to sell the formats…