AD $$ ON DECK FOR FLOURISHING SNY, METS

Talk about good timing.

In what amounts to rare cooperation between the gods governing both baseball and television, the Mets launched their television network, SportsNet New York, the same year the team ran the table in the National League East.

The result: After buying back their television rights from Cablevision for $54 million, Mets owner Fred Wilpon is now sitting on an asset – barely six months after hitting the airwaves – that already is worth north of $1 billion, according to estimates from two analysts.

“We’re really pleased with our first six months, and it really is just six months,” SportsNet New York chief Jon Litner told The Post. “First and foremost we established the brand of SNY as part of the media landscape in New York.”

In other words, just like the Yankees and their YES Network, the value of the team is now dwarfed by the value of its linked television network. Forbes valued that Mets franchise at $604 million – the third-most valuable MLB team after the Yankees and Red Sox.

YES, whose minority investors are considering cashing out, is worth about $2 billion. Analysts say SNY is worth 60 percent to 70 percent of the value of YES.

This season the ratings for Mets games nearly doubled from a year ago, when games were on MSG Networks – meaning almost 100,000 more households tuned in to Mets games this season versus last year.

Of course, it is impossible to quantify how much of the ratings gains were due to the team’s success versus other aspects under the network’s control – such as production quality and the choice of talent in the broadcasting booth.

“It helps, there’s no question,” said Lee Berke, president of LHB Sports, which consults with regional sports networks. “More people are going to tune in to a winning team. But the Mets would have a strong base regardless of performance.”

The ratings bump will pay off over the next few months when the network ramps up advertising sales for next season – which in turn will only boost the amount of advertising revenue.

The network brings in about $14 million a month in fees from area cable operators. New networks typically generate about 15 percent of their revenue from advertising – but over time the chunk of revenue from ad sales can approach 50 percent. (p. 35 Metro)

The fastest-growing audience for baseball on a regional sports network is helping put Mets powered SNY on a equal footing with the Yankees’ YES Network.

SNY’s rookie stats:

* 2.9 household rating – 93% higher than MSG Networks in 2005

* 98,000 more viewing households than last year

* Men’s 25-54 demographic jumps 92% (2.04 vs. 1.06)