Business

Lin’s emergence highlights plight of Time Warner subscribers

While Knicks fans and New York City have been energized by the arrival of Jeremy Lin and the teams’ six-game win streak, the 23-year-old point guard’s success could hurt because it may prolong a dispute that’s seen many Knicks games yanked from televisions screens.

Madison Square Garden Co.’s MSG channel hasn’t been available to Time Warner Cable Inc.’s subscribers since Dec. 31, as the two sides haggle over how much the cable provider should pay for the regional sports network.

Ratings are up 71 percent this season on MSG Network, and games featuring Lin are up a further 52 percent.

With the Lin bandwagon set to continue rolling — he hit the game-winning shot in Tuesday night’s game against the Toronto Raptors — MSG may feel it’s sitting in the catbird seat.

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“MSG’s enjoying a surge thanks to Lin, and I don’t see them balking [in negotiations] right now,” said Adam Swanson, a cable-television-industry analyst at SNL Kagan. “As it is, they’re known for being hard-edged.”

MSG, which also has the rights to broadcast the New York Rangers and Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League, argues that it’s due an increase in how much it receives from Time Warner given that the last deal between the two was struck in 2005.

Time Warner has said that MSG is asking for a 53 percent hike that would make the channel the most expensive sports network in the country, a claim MSG has described as “grossly inaccurate.”

Neither side would provide further details.

Swanson estimated that on average MSG receives $2.63 per subscriber from cable providers, though that number is likely higher in-market, he said.

SNL Kagan has calculated that MSG Network is in 7.7 million homes, 4.1 million of them in the New York market. That gives it the second largest in-market reach nationwide behind another New York station, the YES Network.

Time Warner Cable has close to 2 million subscribers in the New York metropolitan area and upstate New York.

The leader in cable fees is ESPN, which receives about $5 for each subscriber.

In a statement Tuesday, Michael Bair, president of MSG Media, stood firm. “The top operators in the market recognize the value of the programming and the content that we offer, and all we’ve asked of Time Warner Cable is to recognize the fair market value of the services that we provide,” he said.

For its part, Time Warner is trying to minimize the damage, and subscriber anger, by noting that five of the Knicks’ seven games beginning Feb. 17 will be available on ESPN, ABC, YES and TNT.

Both sides told MarketWatch that there are currently no meaningful negotiations underway between the parties.

Swanson said the impasse could last as long as the team is enjoying “Linsanity.” But, he added, “if the bubble bursts, then I think MSG will probably be looking at getting back those 2 million subscribers.”

To read more, go to MarketWatch.