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SBD/February 9, 2012/Media
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MSG Says Time Warner Dispute Could Last Through NBA, NHL Seasons
TWC subscribers could miss rest of Knicks' season if deal cannot be reached
MSG Media President Mike Bair yesterday said that "no meaningful discussions have occurred" between MSG and Time Warner Cable since the net went dark on TWC systems in New York on Jan. 1, according to Mike Farrell of MULTICHANNEL NEWS. Bair said, "We do think that there will ultimately be a deal, but we can't predict when and we can't [offer] any assurances that it will even happen during the 2011-2012 seasons." He also "disputed published reports that said MSG was asking for a 53% increase in rates and that Time Warner Cable was willing to pay a 6.5% hike, but did not offer any details." He said, "I can only tell you that those numbers are in some cases inaccurate and in some cases gross mischaracterizations of anything that is on the table that we've talked about." Other reports have said that MSG's "insistence that carriage of its music channel Fuse be included in any deal," however Bair called that assumption false. While MSG said that the "carriage dustup has not had a big effect on the channel -- Bair claimed that ratings for MSG were up in the calendar first quarter and that CPM prices for the channel are rising -- that might change given TWC subscribers number about 30% of MSG's total viewers and 17.5% of Fuse watchers" (MULTICHANNEL.com, 2/8).
SECOND QUARTER RESULTS: The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER's Georg Szalai notes MSG yesterday reported that Q2 financials were "hurt by the delayed start to the NBA season." Quarterly earnings were $25.6M compared to $32.7M in the year-ago period. The results "exceeded Wall Street expectations." Revenue declined 13.8% to $373M. As a result of the delayed start to the NBA season, the company's Knicks "only played six pre-season and regular season games in the latest quarter, compared with a combined 40 games in the year-ago period" (HOLLYWOODREPORTER.com, 2/8).
LETTER OF THE DAY: In N.Y., Nina Mandell notes five-year-old Bodie Seidle recently was "treated to sixth-row seats, a chance to shoot hoops on the famed Madison Square Garden court and a meet-and-greet with many Knicks players after MSG Network spotted a letter he wrote to Time Warner Cable, asking them to turn the MSG Network back on." The MSG PR staff "saw his story in The Daily News and called him to try to make his season a little brighter" (NYDAILYNEWS.com, 2/8). -
Media Notes
The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER's Marisa Guthrie notes following M.I.A. flipping the bird during halftime of Super Bowl XLVI, the NFL and NBC released dueling statements "seemingly blaming the other for the singer's errant finger." Sources said that after the game, NBC and the NFL "discussed the situation at length after reporters began contacting them for comment." Sources said that NBC execs "felt that the word 'obscene' was over-the-top and, given the specter -- however remote -- of an FCC fine, rather loaded." By Monday, the word "had been stricken from the NFL statement" (HOLLYWOODREPORTER.com, 2/8).
DOUBLE FAULT: The FCC's Enforcement Bureau said that the commission "should deny Comcast's request for a stay of the initial decision by an administrative law judge that its tier placement of the Tennis Channel violated the commission's program carriage rules." The FCC noted that Comcast "had claimed that enforcement would violate its constitutional rights and confuse and frustrate viewers if Comcast had to immediately alter its lineup." But the FCC said that there "was no merit to either claim" (BROADCASTINGCABLE.com, 2/8).
RAYS OF LIGHT: Sun Sports yesterday announced that it will broadcast a 150-game schedule of Rays telecasts, along with the addition of a "full 30-minute pregame show for all road games." Play-by-play announcer Dewayne Staats, analyst Brian Anderson and host Todd Kalas "are all returning" (TAMPABAY.com, 2/8).NO LAUGHING MATTER: The Spanish tennis federation yesterday said that it "would sue the television channel Canal Plus France for using its logo in a satirical video that suggested Rafael Nadal and other Spanish athletes used doping to improve their performances." The video sketch, which aired Monday, "showed a Nadal-like puppet urinating into his car’s gas tank before speeding off." The video "ends with the message, 'Spanish athletes: they don’t win by chance,' displayed among the logos of several Spanish sports federations, including the one responsible for tennis" (N.Y. TIMES, 2/9).
HISPANIC SUPER BOWL RECORD: Super Bowl XLVI set a Hispanic viewership record, the NFL says, citing Nielsen research. An average of 10.4 million Hispanic fans tuned into the game. Last year's Super Bowl pulled 10.04 million viewers. In 2007, the Super Bowl's Hispanic viewership was at 6.2 million (John Ourand, THE DAILY).
