That doesn't sound right. MSG charges the same as ESPN basically??
That could make sense actually. Remember that only a few million people subscribe to MSG...while probably closer to a hundred million subscribe to ESPN. I mean if you were living in the NY area and had to choose one (MSG or ESPN) which would you pick? Personally I watch a heck of a lot more MSG than I do ESPN.
That doesn't sound right. MSG charges the same as ESPN basically??
Well, for two channels, yeah. That's the combined number for MSG and MSG-Plus. Hey, in this area, the channel does a ton of sports programming. It may be just as important a station for this area as ESPN is nationally.
Now, if MSG really is looking for over a 50% increase, they would be charging close to double what ESPN charges. Kind of makes you realize why TWC might be balking...
That could make sense actually. Remember that only a few million people subscribe to MSG...while probably closer to a hundred million subscribe to ESPN. I mean if you were living in the NY area and had to choose one (MSG or ESPN) which would you pick? Personally I watch a heck of a lot more MSG than I do ESPN.
That's true, I don't even watch ESPN, but I watch MSG and YES all the time.
Well, for two channels, yeah. That's the combined number for MSG and MSG-Plus. Hey, in this area, the channel does a ton of sports programming. It may be just as important a station for this area as ESPN is nationally.
Now, if MSG really is looking for over a 50% increase, they would be charging close to double what ESPN charges. Kind of makes you realize why TWC might be balking...
There's ESPN and ESPN2 as well, but yeah, it's really all the same station.
But it's kind of different. ESPN has a lot of content on it. MSG is mostly just a feed of the game, some pre/post game stuff, and the rest of the time it's random junk nobody ever watches. The amount of hours / day that ESPN has content people actually watch is far higher then MSG.
There's obviously facts missing here though. I don't think MSG just stonewalled and said we want 53% more. TWC is only giving part of the story, and MSG is giving none of it and is just telling people to switch.
I'd be interested to see what YES network charges.
The problem here is that MSG and Cablevision are related and it's in Cablevision's interest to keep MSG off of other providers to force the public to subscribe to Cablevision. Not necessarily with Time Warner because of territorial rights, but with FIOS & Dish.
Like threatening to leave? I just joined their triple play...man what a ****** 2012 so far
I'm sure if you threaten to cancel they'll agree to the 53% increase. lol Seriously though, I guess we should all at least call in to voice our frustration and request a credit for losing the channel. They generally then tell you that they have given you a credit, although it's so minimal that you have to ask them to tell you what they gave you. Then you have to tell them that MSG is the most important channel to you and the credit they are offering is insulting...at which time they'll bump it up a bit.
I'm sure if you threaten to cancel they'll agree to the 53% increase. lol Seriously though, I guess we should all at least call in to voice our frustration and request a credit for losing the channel. They generally then tell you that they have given you a credit, although it's so minimal that you have to ask them to tell you what they gave you. Then you have to tell them that MSG is the most important channel to you and the credit they are offering is insulting...at which time they'll bump it up a bit.
im on the phone with them right now.
The guy said the latest as of 5 PM tonight is that MSG will have NBA TV
MSG Plus will be replaced with the NHL Network
ugh...I got mad because we already have NBA TV and NHL network is on sporadically. Where the **** is the NFL network and my MSG
I was just on chat with a rep. They have been saying that MSG is asking for a 53% increase in fees. Well, I asked what that translated to in actual dollars and cents. Of course, the idiot couldnt answer. My guess is the amount is so small that if they did say it, they would look stupid so they use percentages instead. For example, does TWC pay $1 per subscriber and they want $1.53? Do they pay $10 per subscriber and now want $15.30 each? My guess is it is a lot closer to the former as they know they would look like idiots over 53 cents per person. So, they put a percentage hoping that a naive public will see them in a better light. Of course when I threw all this at the moron rep, he couldn't answer.
The poor rep you've been talking to can only tell you what they have been told to tell you. That's true in any company's customer service department. If they don't tell you what their company wants them to, they will get fired. And the amount that providers pay is not often made public.
I've seen some numbers that suggest that MSG wants to receive pretty much the same type of contract ESPN gets from TWC. AND they want the deal to significantly increase the amount they get for FUSE as part of the package. It almost seems like MSG is holding sports fans hostage in order to force TWC to continue to carry FUSE (and have the consumer pay that much more for a channel that most people here probably can only "find" by randomly flipping channels).
Of course, given the holiday weekend, there's very little to go on from media outlets right now. I'm sure we'll learn more over the next couple of days.
And in the meantime: a pox on both their houses.
PS: turns out MSG wants more than ESPN.
Last edited by Brooklyn Ranger: 01-01-2012 at 07:04 PM.
There's gotta be players' families who are stuck with TWC and now can't watch their son/husband/father play anymore. Hopefully the players get something done about it.
