Hat tip to Mike's Mets for first linking this article. According to the nebulous "person familiar with the negotiations", media giant Cablevision has reportedly reached an agreement to carry SportsNet New York (SNY), the forthcoming Mets-owned network (Bloomberg.com).
MetsBlog reported last week that Cablevision sent an internal memo indicating they would be carrying SNY even if a deal had not yet been brokered. MetsBlog surmised at the time:
From what I can gather, the reason most people feel a deal between these two sides will ultimately be reached, is because Comcast is gobbling up cable content left and right, and it is only a matter of time before Cablevision needs Comcast, who is part owner of SNY. To avoid a power-play down the road, unrelated to the Mets, Cablevision is expected to comply.If true, this is wonderful news for myself, as well as the three million other Cablevision subscribers, many of which are undoubtedly Mets fans. SNY is scheduled to debut on March 16.
Oh, and for those of you with high definition televisions, SNY announced the other day that every Mets home game and select road games will be broadcast in HD (PDF announcement). With YES-HD appearing on Cablevision my assumption is that SNY-HD would likewise be carried.