The battle between RSNs and cable providers continues to wage, with Comcast and YES Network now taking center stage after the network’s CEO went on Sunday’s Yankees broadcast to lambast the cable company.
YES Network will go dark in all households that have Comcast at 11:59 p.m. on Monday night while the two sides continue to duke it out over carriage fees – Comcast wants to move the regional sports network to a higher-priced digital package, while the network wants to remain on the basic cable tier.
The sides had come to an agreement last week to extend the deadline past this weekend to avert issues for the first few games of the Yankees’ season.
That led to YES CEO Jon Litner joining the broadcast of the Yankees-Brewers game to address the current situation.
“Despite our attempts to negotiate a new carriage agreement with them, Comcast has refused to negotiate. Instead, they have informed us that they will drop the YES Network from their programming lineup Monday night at midnight,” Litner said on the air while sitting between Yankees broadcasters Michael Kay and Paul O’Neill.
Litner went on to say that the network had come to agreements with “all of our largest distributors” to keep YES Network on those platforms.
The Network’s CEO then suggested that Comcast had been showing “preferential treatment” to RSNs that it had a stake in – Comcast owns a piece of the Mets TV home SNY – while stiffing ones that they don’t.
“They are demanding that YES move to a more expensive, digital package that will cost you, its loyal customers, $20 more per month,” he continued. “At the same time, Comcast continues to give their own networks, including SNY, preferential treatment by keeping them in the less-costly package. And this is exactly the bullying tactic Comcast used against MSG Networks a few years ago which resulted in MSG being dropped by Comcast. I guess it’s the Comcast playbook to favor their own networks and disadvantage networks they do not own.”
Litner concluded his appearance by calling on Yankees fans with Comcast to call their cable provider or local politicians to voice their displeasure over the issue.
Though it would appear local politicians are well aware of the situation at hand.
Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr posted a statement on X on Sunday night, along with a screenshot of The Post’s coverage of the ongoing dispute.
“I would encourage a quick and favorable resolution for the benefit of everyone, Carr said in part. “The FCC does have authority to step in and address claims of discriminatory conduct.”
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont – representatives from two regions that will be most affected if YES goes dark on Comcast – have both previously posted messages on X calling for the two sides to come to an agreement.
Comcast released a statement following the appearance by Litner, pointing the finger back at YES for the current standoff.
“We have offered to distribute YES Network in the same package that has been accepted by 20 RSNs in over 100 DMAs across the country in order to provide fans with access to YES programming and a choice for consumers who do not want to pay the additional fees for the games,” Comcast said in a statement, per Awful Announcing. “YES Network has insisted we pay higher fees when nearly 90% of customers watched fewer than 5 of the ~130 Yankees games it aired last season. If we lose the rights to carry YES, we will credit our customers between $7-$10 a month. Xfinity customers can also subscribe directly to the Gotham Sports App to watch the games.”
The sports media news site also noted that Comcast has in fact moved their own networks to higher-priced tiers in the past, including just this past January when it did so with NBC Sports Bay Area and NBC Sports California.
