YES, Comcast extend blackout deadline, allowing – Business News
Yankees followers in New Jersey and elements of Connecticut who subscribe to Comcast Xfinity’s cable service will have the ability to watch the Bronx Bombers this weekend because the YES Network and the telecom giant agreed to extend the deadline to achieve a new carriage charge deal — thus averting a blackout for the time being.
YES and Comcast reached settlement to extend the deadline to 11:59 p.m. ET on March 31, delaying the elimination of YES Network from Comcast’s lineup, which had initially been set for midnight Friday.
The Yankees opened up the season at home on Thursday with a win over the Milwaukee Brewers at Yankee Stadium.
Yankees followers in New Jersey and Connecticut who subscribe to YES by way of Comcast Xfinity will have the ability to watch pitcher Devin Williams and the remainder of the Bronx Bombers this weekend. JASON SZENES FOR THE NEW YORK POST
The Bombers are off on Friday although they may resume their three-game set towards the Brew Crew within the Bronx on Saturday and Sunday.
Both weekend video games towards the Brewers will air on the YES Network.
News of the settlement was first reported on Friday by Shore News Network.
According to the information web site, that is the tenth time that the 2 sides have agreed to a short-term deadline extension.
As of January 2023, Comcast served roughly 878,797 cable subscribers in New Jersey, in accordance with state authorities information.
Comcast doesn’t present actual figures for the numbers of subscribers in New York or Connecticut — although its presence within the Empire State is negligible, in accordance with sources with data of the state of affairs.
The dispute over carriage charges boils down to {dollars} and cents as Comcast needs to maneuver the YES Network from its fundamental cable tier to its higher-price digital bundle.
According to a individual within the know, Xfinity fundamental cable subscribers pay anyplace between $7 and $11 per subscriber to hold the YES Network — whereas the company says that viewership of the regional sports activities community doesn’t justify these charges.
A source close to the state of affairs mentioned that Comcast needs to kick YES off of its fundamental cable tier and provides subscribers who already paid for his or her companies a month-to-month credit that might offset the charges that they had been charged.
YES and Comcast have agreed to extend the deadline whereas negotiating a renewal of their carriage settlement. Roberto Machado Noa/Shutterstock
Those focused on watching YES may pony up extra money for its higher-priced digital tier which incorporates MLB TV, NHL Network, CBS Sports Network, NBA Network, TNT, TBS and FS1 — amongst different channels.
The Post has sought remark from YES. A Comcast spokesperson declined to remark.
YES, which additionally airs Brooklyn Nets basketball video games, is owned by a consortium of pursuits that features the Yankees, Amazon, Blackstone and RedBird Capital Partners.
Comcast, the Philadelphia-based media behemoth, is a $160 billion conglomerate whose properties embody NBCUniversal, the British telecom community Sky Group and Xfinity, its US-based client model offering cable tv, web and wi-fi service.
As of the fourth quarter of 2024, Comcast boasted 12.5 million cable subscribers nationwide.
YES Network, a regional sports activities community based mostly within the tri-state space, is the home of the Yankees. Rerinhold Matay
But like different media giants, Comcast has needed to wrestle with an ever-changing panorama by which viewers are reducing the wire and migrating away from cable and towards direct-to-consumer choices.
Regional sports activities community corresponding to YES, Bally Sports and Madison Square Garden Networks have needed to cope with shrinking income streams as cable networks balk at persevering with to pay carriage charges within the period of cord-cutting.
Comcast has already booted MSG off of its systems totally after the 2 sides failed to achieve settlement on renewing their carriage charge deal.
The company needs to relegate YES to its digital tier — simply because it did to different networks, corresponding to NBC Sports Bay Area and NBC Sports Boston.
