SNY, Cablevision reach deal
BY NEIL BEST
Newsday Staff Writer
March 23, 2006, 1:53 PM EST
SportsNet New York reached a carriage agreement with Cablevision Thursday, doubling the regional sports network's distribution and calming Mets fans who were concerned that they would be shut out of their team's games this season.
SNY launched March 16 and since then has been in serious talks with the Long Island-based cable TV giant, which has about 3 million customers. Previously, SNY had been available in about 3 million homes, primarily through Comcast and Time Warner, which are part owners of the network.
Cablevision homes were expected to have access to SNY sometime Thursday night, when a Mets spring training game against the Marlins was to be shown. The network will be carried on Channel 60.
SNY will show 125 Mets games this season.
Next on SNY's agenda are the two largest satellite TV providers, DirecTV and Dish Network. A deal with DirecTV seems more likely. Dish does not carry the Yankees' YES Network.
The Mets' opener is April 3.