While MSG Stalls and Refuses to Give Fans a Financial Break – Optimum Has Ways for Customers to Watch the Knicks, Islanders, Devils, and Rangers

One Click, Call, or Chat to Optimum and We Can Review Your Options to Help You Watch Your Favorite Teams Right Away and Get the Content You Want at an Affordable Price

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Optimum issues the following statement about customer friendly options available to customers:

“At Optimum, we have a clear mission: to provide the programming that our customers want and give it to them at an affordable price. The problem: MSG Networks demanded that customers who don’t watch their content – who are the majority – have to pay for it anyway AND demanded that all customers pay an exorbitant amount in fees to carry its content.

Now more than ever, especially in this economy, it is unfair for MSG Networks to demand non-viewers to pay and demand high license fees, especially when there are ways for fans to get games directly from MSG through their direct-to-consumer Gotham Sports app.

While we all wait for MSG to stop stalling and to give fans a needed financial break, Optimum is working on ways for everyone to see the games. We have a comprehensive toolkit of options to take care of our customers to ensure they get what they want based on their unique circumstances.

For fans, this includes offers to help offset and defray the costs of Gotham Sports and other services so they can keep watching their favorite teams.

And for the hundreds of thousands of non-sports fans, we have new affordable and customer-friendly-video packages that get them the content they want and need.

Consumer viewing habits have changed dramatically over the last few years, and we know that content is not one size fits all, so we are tailoring our offerings to meet customer needs individually. That’s why we want customers to call us directly — to understand what’s important to them and continue to support their viewing and entertainment interests accordingly.

At Optimum, we pride ourselves on offering a wide range of options to suit our customers and our team is ready to help customers find the best packages for them. Just call us at 866-347-4784, chat with us or visit www.optimum.com/MSG to learn more.”

Additional information on the negotiations with MSG Networks:

Optimum offered to absorb MSG Networks’ egregious price demands if we could package its content in a way that would give more flexibility and control to our customers, so that fans could continue to watch and pay for their content while non-viewers would not be forced to pay for what they don’t watch. MSG Networks said no and refused multiple offers from us to reach a deal.

It is no secret that viewership for sports has become increasingly fragmented across countless streaming platforms and services. Yet MSG Networks continues to squeeze its viewers for more money to watch their content, refusing to evolve or deviate from a broken model that is outdated based on the evolution of the entertainment industry, is anti-consumer, and unsustainable in today’s programming landscape.

Optimum wants to partner with programmers who put customer choice and flexibility at the center of every decision. We are disappointed in MSG Networks, but most importantly, sorry that our customers have to experience this change, which is why Optimum is working directly with customers to provide alternate viewing options to ensure that they never have to miss a game.

About Optimum

Optimum is a brand of Altice USA, one of the largest broadband communications and video services providers in the United States, delivering broadband, video, mobile, proprietary content and advertising services to approximately 4.6 million residential and business customers across 21 states. The company operates Optimum Media, an advanced advertising and data business, which provides audience-based, multiscreen advertising solutions to local, regional and national businesses and advertising clients. Altice USA also offers hyper-local and international news through its News 12 and i24NEWS networks.