BY MITCH ABRAMSON
Cablevision, which owns the Madison Square Garden Network and Fox Sports New York, home of the Knicks and Mets, blacked out the stations after an agreement for a higher rate could not be made. Around 2.4 million Time Warner cable subscribers in New York will be affected by the cancellation.As of 2004, Time Warner has been operating with the respective networks without a contract, according to The New York Times. The two sides are around 20 percent apart on what the monthly bill for customers should be.The Mets' regular season begins on April 11 against the Houston Astros. Fifty regular season Mets games will be available to Time Warner customers on Channel 11. Cablevision has already lost the services of Yankees and Nets games and next season the Mets will be leaving to start up their own network. “Time Warner has declined our offer to keep games on while we bring the dispute to an arbitrator,” MSG Networks said in a statement. Both stations were removed from Time Warner in August for two weeks. Both parties ultimately settled their disputes with the intervention ofAttorney General Eliot Spitzer, who helped broker a temporary agreement that expired and was reworked, with a deadline given for March 7 at midnight.
