RCN Could Be Next Stop for YES

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.'