Pressure is beginning to build on cable operators in New York, as upstart
Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network inked its first affiliation agreement
with a direct-broadcast satellite provider, DirecTV Inc.
Cable overbuilder RCN Corp. could cut a deal next, creating public-relations
problems for unsigned operators such as Time Warner Cable, Comcast Corp. and
Cablevision Systems Corp.
The start-up, to launch March 19, will carry more than 130 New York Yankees
Major League Baseball games.
Sources said one major MSO raised the specter of offering Yankees games a la
carte on a local-origination channel.
Sources close to YES called that 'unacceptable.'
