Verizon harshes on Cablevision for keeping MSG HD close to the chest
Despite the fact that DirecTV has somehow managed to wrestle MSG HD away from the grasp of Cablevision (the station's owner), most other carriers aren't having as much luck. A recent post by Verizon's Eric Rabe slams Cablevision for its refusal to cooperate with the Cable Act's program access rules in high-definition, noting that it has resorted to going back to the FCC in an attempt to force things forward. Rabe even calls Verizon out, noting that "it's pretty obvious that Cablevision is trying to circumvent the FCC's program access rules by denying Verizon MSG in HD." We don't doubt that there are two sides (one of which is being hidden here) to this story, but in theory, we have to agree that we wish MSG HD was available for more providers. So yeah, go get 'em Verizon -- just don't get too cocky.[Thanks, Tim]
Filed under: Industry, Regulatory, Cable, Fiber, Sports, New content
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
NotATreoFan @ Jul 29th 2008 8:35AM
Ed Snyder from the Philadelphia Flyers is pulling the same crap with Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia; he refuses to lease the channel to satellite providers. But he did allow Fios customers to get it.
Gozer @ Jul 29th 2008 9:43AM
Typical "Dolan Family" crap.
These are the same guys that sent my Cablevision bill to a collection agency after I had paid them their money and told them I was leaving for FiOS.
They will have no choice, by law or otherwise, but to start leasing the network out when millions of people in the 5 Boroughs who feel as strongly as I do about the Dolan's start boarding the Verizon's Fiber Optic Space Ship.
sn1per @ Jul 29th 2008 10:28AM
The same crap goes on with FSN - in areas where Comcast/Cablevision own the affiliate, satellite (and I think FiOS) are blocked from getting the HD feed. It doesn't bother me too much, since my team has its own cable network, but I can understand how frustrating it must be for people in other markets. The cable companies need to realize that people won't want to do business with an anti-competitive company, and that ultimately, only competitive services/pricing will allow them to retain customers.
riverside_guy @ Jul 29th 2008 4:11PM
Here in NY, we DO have 2 very local sports good channels, YES (Yankees) and SNY (Mets). YES is on it's second year of VERY game in HD and SNY has pledged this for every game in HD (we're talking home AND away games they carry).
MSG covers most home game in HD, but not all. AND I've yet to see any way games in HD.
Everything and I mean everything on MSG channels is in SD, except for most but not all home games for the Rangers/Knicks.
And don't get me started on what the kind of organization the Knicks are... Patrick, Clyde, Dave etc. are all seriously sorry what has happened to the team... the five guys playing ostensively as a team.
Rob @ Jul 29th 2008 9:25PM
You're not paying much attention if you have not seen any away games in HD on MSG