The ongoing carriage dispute between Time Warner Cable and MSG was thoroughly discussed on WFAN-AM’s “Francesa” yesterday, with TWC Dir of Communications Eric Mangan and MSG Media President Mike Bair appearing separately to explain their stance. Host Mike Francesa asked Mangan whether the emergence of Knicks G Jeremy Lin has “put a lot of pressure on Time Warner” to settle the dispute. Mangan replied by saying it “puts a lot of pressure back on MSG” to come “back to the negotiating table and negotiate a deal that’s fair to both sides.” Mangan: “I’m not going to lie -- yes, of course, more people have inquired about the MSG issue. They want to know if MSG is still insisting on a 53% price increase for the amount we pay for their network.” Mangan added, “New Yorkers are a very savvy bunch and they know that the more that we pay to MSG, the more that the customer is going to pay in the end.” Mangan noted they had “an agreement in place for a 6.5% increase” that Time Warner would pay to MSG, but MSG “reneged on that deal” and demanded an increase of 53%. The interview with Mangan became somewhat contentious when Francesa tried to “get an idea” what “normal deals” are with other carriers to determine whether there is “pretty much a going rate for MSG programming.” Mangan noted deal terms could not be disclosed publicly due to confidentially agreements. Francesa said, “All you are disclosing is the amount of the increase of your rates. You don’t have any problem telling us what those are, but you won’t tell us what the rates are. … I cannot say whether or not Time Warner is being reasonable … without any way of knowing what the going rate is. So if we don’t know what the going rate is, how would we know whether you were being singled out or not.”
TOUGH NEGOTIATIONS TYPICAL: Bair began his appearance by saying it was “hard to say how to get a deal done at this point because we’ve been at this for two years.” He noted MSG and TWC have “typically had tough negotiations over time,” and TWC “can be very tough negotiators.” Bair: “All the numbers that I hear being thrown in the marketplace are just grossly inaccurate. … All we’re asking them to do is simply be in the same ballpark as the other providers. It’s nothing more than that.” He added, “This is really an issue, first and foremost, about the proper value to pay for our product and that’s all we’re asking them to do.” Bair went on to say he was “hopeful that we can strike a deal.” But he added, “At the same time we’ve been going through this for two years, made countless proposals, and they’ve rejected every one.” Bair: “I’m not overly optimistic, but we will do anything we can to get in a room with them and negotiate a fair deal.” He reiterated there is “no 53% increase.” Bair: “I don’t even know where that number comes from. It’s not even close to that” (“Francesa,” WFAN-AM, 2/15).
