NBA fans just can’t catch a break.
After a lockout that erased a quarter of the basketball season, New York fans may lose out on Knicks games if Madison Square Garden’s MSG Network and Time Warner Cable can’t work out a new deal.
Their contract expires at midnight on Jan. 1. The regional sports network, which also airs Rangers games, is available to about 2 million Time Warner Cable customers.
The last time the two locked horns, in 2005, MSG went dark for two months.
Cable and satellite companies pay on average $2.48 per subscriber a month for MSG and another $2.17 for MSG Plus, said research firm SNL Kagan.
A source said the two are far apart on a deal, with MSG looking for a per-subscriber increase of a couple of dollars. That would put the MSG networks in the same ballpark as sports powerhouse ESPN, which gets $4.69 a subscriber.
A Time Warner rep declined comment. An MSG spokesperson said, “We are hopeful we can reach agreement before any disruption of service.”