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TWC, MSG Met Earlier This Week For First Since December As Linsanity Grows

MSG and Time Warner Cable "met earlier this week for the first time since December, when Time Warner’s contract expired and MSG shut down the signal," according to Claire Atkinson of the N.Y. POST. Neither company would give details, but the talks came in the midst of Knicks G Jeremy Lin’s "incredible run, which has millions of local viewers demanding to see games." MSG Media President Mike Bair said, "Right now, because of the Lin story, because of the performance of the team, and because of what we’ve seen in the ratings, now is the time to do a deal." Bair and TWC Dir of Communications Eric Mangan appeared separately on WFAN-AM yesterday to discuss the dispute. Atkinson notes "Lin-starved fans are denouncing Time Warner on social media, flooding its switchboard with complaints -- and watching the games through other cable providers or packing local bars airing the games." MSG ratings have "surged as Lin has turned the Knicks into must-see TV," as the average ratings are "up 87 percent in the Lin era" (N.Y. POST, 2/16).

EXPLAINING THEMSELVES: In N.Y., Ken Belson in a front-page piece reports MSG execs invited residents of N.Y.'s Chinatown who have been unable to watch Knicks games to a "hastily arranged all-you-can-eat dim sum party" to explain their side of the carriage dispute. There were translators and "plenty of food, a life-size cardboard cutout of Lin, and ... an actual live, legal telecast of the game on television." The "100 or so fans who were admitted on a first-come first-served basis received 'Just Lin Baby' T- shirts and raffle tickets for Knicks tickets and a single sneaker signed by Lin." MSG Network Exec VP & GM Dan Ronayne also attended with staff who were "on hand to show Time Warner Cable customers how to switch cable providers." However, there was not a "whole lot of peace and understanding." Instead, it was "just another night of paradox and frustration." Jeffrey Wong, a Chinatown resident and Knicks fan, said, "Until Jeremy Lin started playing, I don’t think the blackout mattered much to me. I’ve watched every game since then except for last night." Belson notes like other fans he interviewed, Wong is "uncertain whom to blame for the blackout" (N.Y. TIMES, 2/16).

MSG Network flashed a postgame graphic of
Lin juxtaposed with a fortune cookie
GOING TOO FAR? SPORTING NEWS reported following the Knicks’ win last night, MSG Network “displayed a graphic featuring” Lin’s face above a “broken fortune cookie with the words ‘The Knicks Good Fortune’ on a sheet of paper.” Lin has been “the target of disparaging tweets about his heritage since his play thrust him into the public eye” from boxer Floyd Mayweather and Fox Sports columnist Jason Whitlock, among others. However, this is the “first time a television outlet has shown offensive material regarding Lin’s race” (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 2/15). CNBC's Darren Rovell tweeted, "That fortune cookie/Lin sign that MSG put on the air after another win last night was a sign in the arena, not created by MSG" (TWITTER.com, 2/16).

CENSORED CONTENT: The FINANCIAL TIMES' Simon Rabinovitch notes Chinese basketball fans have been "asking why CCTV has not shown Mr. Lin's games." Online forums are "awash with speculation that the Taiwanese flags waved by some of his fans are the impediment." China considers Taiwan a breakaway province and "rejects any displays of Taiwanese independence." While the theory "has holes ... there is no question that Mr Lin is a trickier fit for Beijing’s propagandists" than former NBAer Yao Ming. Lin’s Christianity is "perhaps more awkward for China’s atheist Communist rulers." Evidence of how state censors would "like to play down his religion came in a CCTV news report when he was named" NBA player of the week on Monday. A N.Y. resident interviewed in English said, "I love the fact that he gave praise to his team and to God." But the Chinese subtitles "translated his comments simply as 'I love him for praising his team,' scrubbing out the religious reference" (FINANCIAL TIMES, 2/16).

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