Verizon / Cablevision MSG HD channel squabble goes to the FCC
NYC Metro FiOS subs will look on with interest as Verizon has petitioned the FCC to rule on whether or not Cablevision can continue to refuse offering its MSG channels in high definition to FiOS customers. Naturally Cablevision has responded calling the idea of a regulatory bailout for a phone company ten times its size "absurd," and claiming that it doesn't have to license its local HD programming to anyone. As Multichannel News explains, at issue is the "terrestrial loophole" which requires satellite delivered programming to be made available to competitors, but since the MSG channels aren't that rule does not apply. Still, it could be a while before we know if local Rangers, Knicks, Islanders, Devils and Sabers games are coming to FiOS as Verizon has asked for a decisions within five months, which, while not in time for the basketball season, should still be made well ahead of the Knicks ever being any good again.
Read - Verizon Petitions FCC to Rule on Cablevision's Refusal to Make MSG Channels Available in HD
Read - Verizon Files Program Access Complaint Against Cablevision
