Altice USA's Optimum cable customers lose access to MSG Networks, which features the Knicks and Rangers.

• Early Wednesday, Optimum cable TV customers in the New York area lost access to MSG Networks, which features local sports games for teams such as the New York Knicks.
• The dispute over fees between the cable TV operator and James Dolan's regional sports network resulted in a blackout.
• The New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils, and New York Islanders' regional sports networks broadcast local games. The Knicks are currently on an eight-game winning streak and have a game scheduled for Wednesday night.

On Wednesday, early in the day, MSG Networks were no longer accessible to customers because of a disagreement between the cable TV operator and James Dolan's regional sports channels.

The NBA's New York Knicks and NHL's New York Rangers, New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils were unavailable to Altice USA's Optimum cable TV customers early Wednesday, as the blackout coincided with the Knicks' eight-game win streak and their scheduled game that evening.

The breakdown of negotiations between Altice USA and MSG Networks was due to a disagreement over fees, which is a common issue in these discussions. The blackout highlights the ongoing challenges faced by regional sports networks as customers increasingly opt to leave cable TV bundles and operators resist paying high fees.

On Wednesday, both Altice USA and MSG Networks released statements regarding the ongoing dispute.

"According to a MSG Networks statement, we presented Altice with several fair and reasonable proposals that requested Altice to pay us less than the previous year. However, Altice rejected all of them, including our proposal to keep MSG Networks on the air while we continued to work towards a deal. Despite this, we remain open to negotiating in good faith."

MSG Networks is demanding excessive programming fees, which may increase Optimum customers' cable bills, and they are also requiring Optimum to make their channels available to the majority of their video subscribers, forcing customers to pay for content they do not want.

MSG Networks' streaming options were noted by Altice USA for customers who still require access to their teams.

As of Sept. 30, Altice USA, a New York-based company, had over 1.9 million residential cable TV subscribers, despite losing approximately 77,000 customers compared to the same quarter in the previous year.

The decline in traditional cable TV subscriptions has negatively impacted the regional sports networks industry, with Diamond Sports, the largest owner of these networks, emerging from bankruptcy in 2024 due to the same challenges.

MSG Networks introduced a streaming service in 2023 for $29.99 per month. In 2024, MSG Networks partnered with the YES Network, which offers local games for the New York Yankees, to create the Gotham Sports app, priced at $359.99 annually or $41.99 monthly.

The high prices of streaming options indicate that regional sports networks must exercise caution in order to avoid disrupting the cable TV model and violating contracts with distributors, which in turn help the networks cover the billions of dollars in fees they pay professional sports teams to broadcast their games.