As part of a broader negotiation with Time Warner Cable, Fox Sports said it has reached a renewal deal with the nation's second-largest cable operator for the YES Network.
The YES extension, terms of which were not disclosed, was recently concluded. YES’s contract with TWC was set to expire near the end of January, but there was no disruption of service with the regional sports network home of the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Nets.
Fox today announced that it has come to terms with the MSO to begin carrying its regional sports network that is home to MLB’s San Diego Padres. Time Warner Cable will begin carrying FS San Diego on March 30.
Fox, which owns 49% of the nation’s top RSN, last month announced that it will soon increase its equity position to 80% of YES. Under the initial purchase agreement announced in November 2012, Fox assumed a number of business functions for YES, including affiliate negotiations.
According to SNL Kagan estimates, YES garners an average monthly subscriber fee of $3.20, a rate TWC was not paying under its former long-term deal.
Elsewhere, national cable network Fox Sports 1 is expected to announce shortly that it will begin simulcasting Mike Francesa’s WFAN radio show. The New York DMA’s top sports radio talk show had been part of YES since its inception in 2002. The contract for Francesa’s simulcast on YES ended on Jan. 31, and it has been replaced by The Michael Kay Show. Kay is the play-by-play man for Yankees’ telecasts on YES.
