Cablevision Vs. YES

Here is a news story about the dispute between Cablevision and the new cable TV outlet for the New York Yankees, the YES network. Although I am no longer an active participant in the cable TV industry, I find this to be an interesting battle. Most of the other cable companies, including my former employer Comcast (of which I am still a customer), have cut a deal with Cablevision to air the Yankees games. As it stands, most New Yorkers who are still hanging on to Cablevision are going to see their first Yankees game tomorrow afternoon, when the home opener is aired on the new broadcast outlet for the Yankees, WCBS-TV. (Channel 2 will have about 30 games; the CBS affil was chosen perhaps because its sister station, WCBS-AM, was granted the rights to broadcast the Yankees on radio.)

Leo Hindery, the industry vet who is running the YES Network, is to be applauded for not kowtowing to Cablevision, which apparently wants YES on a premium tier, while the business plan has always been for basic-cable coverage.