News Corp. will bid for ITT Corp.'s piece of Madison
Square Garden, "if it becomes available," according to TV
industry sources of NEWSDAY's Steve Zipay. Fox owns and
operates nine RSNs around the country with TCI's Liberty
Media, and adding the MSG Network would give it the No. 2
RSN, after Fox Sports South, with 5.4 million subscribers.
The deal also includes rights to the Yankees, Knicks and
Rangers as well as Mets, Islanders, Devils and Nets since
SportsChannel New York will merge with MSG in the next few
months. A source "familiar with the thinking" of Fox said
that "Liberty came very, very close to buying the Garden in
1994, and now, with Fox as a partner, it's a much more
logical fit. It's already been discussed (at Fox)." Zipay
notes the possible sale of MSG and its teams also adds "an
intriguing edge" to Time Warner-Ted Turner conflict with
News Corp. Chair Rupert Murdoch. Although Time Warner has
refused to place the 24-hour Fox News Channel on its New
York City cable system, Zipay notes if Fox and Liberty had
ITT's stake in MSG, "it could potentially withhold Knicks,
Rangers and Yankees games from Time Warner subscribers until
the company cleared space on its system for the Fox News
Channel." Fox could then broadcast Fox News in the day and
sports events at night. Overflow games "could conceivably"
be placed on Fox's N.Y. broadcast affiliate (NEWSDAY, 1/30).
The N.Y. DAILY NEWS' Douglas Feiden writes that Cablevision
stands in the way of a possible News Corp. deal since it has
a 50% share in MSG and has the right to buy ITT's half.
Cablevision Chair Charles Dolan indicated yesterday he would
hold onto Cablevision's share but wouldn't comment on
whether he would pursue ITT's half (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 1/30).
BUSINESS AS USUAL: MSG President Dave Checketts, on
MSG's operations since Hilton's takeover attempt was
announced: "Nothing has changed at all. No one should be
concerned. This is not going to impact our ability to make
the right decisions for our teams" (N.Y. POST, 1/30).
