MSG Metro Channels - Sports Coverage and Controversy

Sports Coverage and Controversy

At the time MSG Metro channels launched, Cablevision owned the local television rights to all seven MLB, NBA and NHL teams in the New York Metropolitan area. These games were regularly scheduled to air on MSG Network and FSN New York. When more than two teams played at the same time, Cablevision made those games available to cable systems with additional feeds such as MSG2 or FSN2. However, since these channels were not permanent channels, cable companies had to find an available channel or sometimes temporarily replace an existing channel to carry these additional feeds. Cablevision claimed that companies whose advertisements appeared during those sporting events were upset at the use of these additional feeds since it resulted in lower number of viewers.

With the creation of the three new MSG Metro channels, Cablevision decided to place some of these "overflow" games on Metro Guide. These games were only available to subscribers who had the Metro Channels on their cable system, causing an uproar among area sports fans. Outside of Cablevision, few cable systems carried the Metro channels, since Cablevision would only sell all 3 channels together as a package. In addition, the programming on the Metro Channels was very Manhattan-specific and carried content thought to be of little interest to people who lived outside of the local New York City area. Satellite providers DirecTV and Dish Network did not carry Metro, and therefore, could not show every game of every local NY area team. Time Warner Cable did reach a deal with Cablevision, but Comcast did not. The end result was that a large percentage of households, mostly in New Jersey, were unable to watch the sporting events being broadcast on this channel.

Later in Metro's existence, there were days where a game was scheduled on Metro Guide, but not MSG or FSN, showing the monopoly that Cablevision had over local sports. The monopoly ended in 2002, when the New York Yankees and New Jersey Nets started the YES Network, lessening Cablevision's need to show pro games on Metro. The Mets would leave Cablevision and start their own network, SportsNet New York, at the end of the 2005 season. For the start of the 2005-2006 NHL and NBA seasons, Cablevision revived MSG2 and FSN2 for overlapping games, which DirecTV and Dish Network carry.