FS San Diego and Time Warner Cable yesterday announced an agreement to carry the new RSN in time for the start of the Padres season. The RSN will launch for TWC customers on March 30 (Fox). In San Diego, Mike Freeman notes terms of the agreement were not disclosed, and details are “still being worked out" regarding which TWC channel will carry FS San Diego -- "and what level of cable service will be required for subscribers to see the games.” TWC “hasn’t carried the Padres on its cable network for the past two seasons -- when Fox Sports acquired the rights to televise the Padres games from Cox Communications.” Other pay TV providers in the region, led by Cox and DirecTV, “signed up early on to televise the Padres games, and other sports programming” broadcast on FS San Diego. Dish Network and AT&T U-Verse “came on board last year, making Time Warner the lone holdout.” With “roughly 180,000 subscribers," TWC represents about 20% of the local pay TV market that has “been unable to watch the Padres” (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 2/11). Also in San Diego, Dennis Lin wrote while this is “a big win for FSSD,” it is “a huge win” for new Padres President & CEO Mike Dee and the team, who had “expressed optimism of a resolution by March 30," when the Dodgers visit Petco Park in the ESPN "Sunday Night Baseball" opener (UTSANDIEGO.com, 2/10).
BACK IN THE N.Y. GROOVE: TWC also announced a long-term carriage deal for YES Network, averting what some expected to be a bitter carriage fight in the N.Y. area. TWC's deal with YES was set to expire at the end of January, but the two sides quietly structured a deal with no disruption in service. "We can confirm that YES Network and Time Warner Cable recently reached an agreement that will keep the New York Yankees, Brooklyn Nets and other YES Network programming on the Time Warner Cable channel lineup," the cable operator told THE DAILY in an e-mailed statement (John Ourand, Staff Writer).
