Linsanity helps end Knicks blackout on Time Warner

ALBANY, N.Y. — First, he lifted the Knicks back into the playoff hunt. Now Jeremy Lin has put them back on TV.

The Madison Square Garden Co. has reached a deal to put Knicks games back on television for some 2 million Time Warner Cable subscribers in the New York area, according to New York state officials who had pressured the companies to settle.

A dispute between the two companies had left subscribers unable to watch the Knicks since Jan. 1, meaning they couldn't tune in to watch the undrafted point guard from Harvard come off the bench to lead the team to seven straight wins and a 15-15 record. Fans complained and called for a quick resolution.

One state official close to the negotiations said Lin's phenomenal run forced the deal, along with the recent play of the Rangers, whose hockey games are also carried on the MSG network.

NBA Commissioner David Stern stepped in over the last two days, telling the sides how important it was to get Lin back on TV for both parties, for the league and for basketball itself, said one person close to the talks who requested anonymity.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo called each company's top executives in the last two days, according to another state official. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because negotiations were private. Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said he had been working for a month to shepherd the companies toward agreement.

"I thank them for being responsive to the needs of New Yorkers," Cuomo said in a statement.

"Hallelujah," said Norman Siegel, a civil rights lawyer who wrote to the companies Friday to complain. "We can all watch and experience this evolving story."

The deal came just as the Knicks prepared to host the New Orleans Hornets Friday night.

A hurricane of "Linsanity" has swirled around the breakthrough 23-year-old, who was born in Palo Alto, Calif., to Taiwanese parents.

His play has helped lift the stock of The Madison Square Garden Co., which owns the Knicks and the MSG network that carries their games. On Friday, shares closed up 98 cents, or 3.1 percent, at $32.85.

The company's stock is up more than 11 percent since Lin stepped off the bench Feb. 4 and posted his first professional 25-point game.