Optimum and MSG announced on Friday that they had reached a new carriage agreement, ending a standoff that lasted almost two months.
The cable TV service, which is owned by Altice USA and has about 4.7 million customers in 21 states, dropped MSG and MSG Sportsnet channels, home to the New York Knicks, Rangers, Islanders and New Jersey Devils at the end of December when its contract with MSG Networks expired after the two sides reached a stalemate over carriage fees.
At the time, MSG stressed that it “offered Altice the same fair and reasonable terms that other major providers accepted,” but that Altice “is trying to charge their customers more and give them less,”
One analyst at the time, predicted that the dispute could push MSG into bankruptcy, adding that he would “not expect a resolution anytime soon, if at all.”
MSG has faced serious financial difficulties in recent years, mirroring many of the same issues as other regional sports networks as major sports leagues sell more live sports rights to streaming services. Currently it is $829 million in debt.
The two sides issued the following statement on Friday night:
“MSG Networks and Optimum are pleased to announce they have reached an agreement for the relaunch of MSG Networks on Optimum video lineups. MSG Networks and Optimum would like to thank everyone for their patience as we partnered to reach this new agreement to benefit our fans and Optimum subscribers. Specific terms of the agreement were not released.”
