NY cable dispute blacks out Knicks, 4 NHL teams

NEW YORK — As the glow fades from the Giants' Super Bowl win, some New York sports fans are focusing on basketball and hockey.

Others can't. More than 2 million Time Warner Cable subscribers lost broadcasts of the NBA's Knicks and the NHL's Rangers, Devils, Islanders and Sabres on Jan. 1 because of a fight over rate increases between the cable giant and MSG Network.

MSG Media President Michael Bair says the dispute could last through the end of the leagues' regular seasons in April.

Time Warner spokeswoman Maureen Huff says MSG is demanding a 53 percent increase in the price Time Warner pays for its programming. Bair calls that figure incorrect but didn't elaborate.

The dispute affects subscribers in New York City, upstate New York and parts of New Jersey.