Comcast, Time Warner See Mets Deal

The day-to-day management of the network will be overseen by Comcast, which already operates a number of programming networks in different regions, such as in its hometown of Philadelphia and with the recently launched Comcast SportsNet Chicago. Time Warner Cable doesn't have equity in any other sports networks, its spokesman says.

The New York network will be available on the expanded basic tier, its backers say, reaching 2.3 million Time Warner subscribers and 790,000 Comcast subscribers in the New York region.

Spokesmen for SEE and Time Warner Cable declined to say whether they had had discussions about carrying the new network with Cablevision, which has 3 million subscribers in the New York area. "We hope the programming is attractive -- that other multichannel operators will want to deliver it to their customers," said the Time Warner spokesman.

If history is any guide, the new network's founders may have some difficulty in persuading Cablevision to place it in part of the explanded basic tier -- the standard package including a few dozen standard cable channels like MTV, Nickelodeon and USA.

In 2002, Cablevision dropped carriage of Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network in a dispute with the telecaster of New York Yankees games. While YES wanted to appear on the expanded basic tier, Cablevision preferred to sell the channels on an "a la carte" basis, charging extra to sports fans interested in that particular channel.

In 2003, Cablevision ended up offering YES and other sports networks on an a la carte basis to subscribers of lower-priced packages, but in early 2004 it was reported that an arbitration panel ruled Cablevision had to put YES back on expanded basic.

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