By Steve Huff 4/05/12 1:05am

TV

Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann)

Schadenfreude Alert For Keith Olbermann: Will Low Viewer Numbers Kill Current TV?

Former Vice President Al Gore’s pet TV project, Current TV, is in the news for all the wrong reasons these days. Current, which Mr. Gore and business partner Joel Hyatt seek to turn into a rival to the likes of MSNBC, just fired firebrand Keith Olbermann for, well, being Keith Olbermann, and Mr. Olbermann will likely sue them for the pleasure. Now Reuters reports via “three sources with knowledge of the situation” that Current may not meet Time Warner Cable’s “minimum threshold” for average number of viewers per quarter: Read More

By Foster Kamer 2/17/12 3:26pm

THE NIXED KNICKS

jeremy lin fighting over ball knicks

Breaking: New York City’s MSG Shortage Ends, Time-Warner Cable Agreement Reached

The New York Times‘ New York Knicks reporter Howard Beck just Tweeted out: “Knicks and Jeremy Lin will be coming back to Time Warner cable customers soon. Agreement reached.” Times TV sports columnist Rich Sandovir notes: “Seven week impase resolved, with input from Gov. Cuomo and AG Schneiderman.”

We’ve reached out to representatives from Time Warner-Cable and MSG Network; we’ll update if they return with quote. The Times story, now up, notes Governor Andrew Cuomo’s involvement in the dispute: Read More

By Foster Kamer 2/16/12 5:30pm

THE NIXED KNICKS

jeremy lin fighting over ball knicks

Time-Warner Cable and MSG Brass Back to Negotiating Table Over Blackout Dispute

The dispute over licensing fees between Time-Warner Cable and Madison Square Garden Entertainment—which owns the New York Knicks and MSG TV—has blacked out the majority of Knicks coverage for New Yorkers since the beginning of 2012. In January, talks had completely stalled out.

The Observer has now learned that MSG Entertainment chairman James Dolan and Time-Warner Cable chairman Glenn A. Britt finally returned to the negotiating table earlier this week. Read More

By Foster Kamer 2/16/12 2:17pm

THE NIXED KNICKS

jeremy lin sad tired upset

The Cold, Hard Numbers: Time-Warner Cable and MSG Network’s Knicks Outage

Here’s the thing about New York City and Linsanity: We can feel it. We know it’s there. But we can’t see it. Since the beginning of the year, subscribers of Time-Warner Cable—New York City’s largest cable provider—have been blacked out of watching a majority of the New York Knicks games. The reason? A licensing fee dispute between TWC and Madison Square Garden Entertainment, the company that owns the Knicks and the channel they’re on, The MSG Network. Read More

By Foster Kamer 1/11/12 9:39am

THE NIXED KNICKS

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Alley-Oof: New Yorkers Still Can’t Watch the Knicks. Why?

It was just another Tweet, one of hundreds of thousands fired off every minute, and it attracted little attention. Yet, it was notable not just for its author—Fred Wilson, the New York City-based venture capitalist responsible for funding some of the most high-profile tech startups in America—but for what it portended. Mr. Wilson had attached a photo of his television showing a professional basketball match. “Thanks everyone for your help on streaming the Knicks game,” he wrote, adding the kicker: “#screwcable.”

Mr. Wilson was one of about 2.8 million people who found themselves unable to watch the Knicks game on their usual platform, Time Warner Cable. With his legions of techie followers, he’d found a work-around. He was one of the lucky ones. Read More

By Foster Kamer 12/20/11 5:41pm

IMPRESSIVE DISPLAYS OF CHUTZPAH

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How Jimmy Dolan and The MSG Network Are Putting The Squeeze on New Yorkers (and Especially Knicks and Rangers Fans)

IT’S ENOUGH TO GET ONE’S KNICKERBOCKERS IN A TWIST. The MSG Network and Time Warner Cable—handily the largest cable provider in the five boroughs—are currently embroiled in heated negotiations. They’re fighting over what the cable provider is willing to pay per customer for the MSG Network, which carries the New York Knicks’ and New York Rangers’ games. If both sides fail to come to an agreement, New Yorkers with Time Warner Cable won’t get their Knicks and Rangers fix.

So the MSG Network has started a campaign, with wonderful posters like this: Read More

By Kat Stoeffel 8/15/11 8:45am

The Schmear

Morning Links: Roger Ailes Installed Dead Bolts on Megyn Kelly’s Doors

Marie Claire gave Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly a tough but fair Q & A, and you should read the whole thing because it’s fascinating, but these are the undisputed highlights:

You have a very close relationship with Fox News CEO Roger Ailes. Tell us something we may not know about him.

Obviously he’s very powerful, a television genius. Even his critics will cop to that. But he is also somebody who looks out for the people who work for him. A couple years ago, I had a very bad stalking problem. I was living alone in D.C. In addition to security Fox provided me, Roger offered to pay out of his own pocket for special dead bolts throughout my home. It was just a small thing, but he didn’t have to do it. I had a boss who cared, and it made me feel better. Read More

By Max Abelson 1/20/10 5:46pm

The Observer 100 Index: Week One

This year will bring either a dazzlingly financial apocalypse (the analyst Howard Davidowitz has said we’re on “a death march”), a revival that catapults New York into a new era of giddy splendor, or an uneven and slow sludge back to normalcy. Manhattan will expire, sparkle, or crawl.

One comparatively easy way to take the Read More

By Staff 1/20/10 5:46pm

Introducing the Observer 100 Index

This year will bring either a dazzlingly financial apocalypse (the analyst Howard Davidowitz has said we’re on “a death march”), a revival that catapults New York into a new era of giddy splendor, or an uneven and slow sludge back to normalcy. Manhattan will expire, sparkle, or crawl.

One comparatively easy way to take the Read More