NFL Network Still Not Close To Deal With Time Warner One Week From Thursday Night Debut

One week before it is scheduled to carry the first of its newly expanded live-game schedule, NFL Network is saying that it still is not close to a deal with Time Warner Cable, the nation's second largest cable operator. "Customers should prepare to make other arrangements to get NFL Network and NFL RedZone," NFL Dir of Corporate Communications Dir Dan Masonson said. NFL Network started putting some pressure on TWC in K.C., having cut a deal with Google Fiber, a start-up that operates a competitive multichannel video service in the market. As part of a multiyear deal that will be announced formally this afternoon, Google Fiber will carry NFL Network in the market as of Monday and make NFL RedZone available via a la carte. The NFL on Aug. 16 signed a similar deal with Cincinnati Bell Fioptics, another market where TWC is the biggest cable distributor.