Another regional sports network, New York Knicks and Rangers outlet MSG Networks, is facing bankruptcy. And once again, Amazon might be stepping in to save the channel.
Since Jan. 1, the linear pay TV network has been blacked out for around 1 million New York-area Optimum cable subscribers, with MSG Networks CEO and executive chairman James Dolan unable to come to licensing renewal terms with Optimum operator Altice USA, the outfit he sold his Long Island-based family cable business to a decade ago.
This means a lot of local fans for the NBA’s Knicks, as well as the NHL’s Rangers, Islanders and Devils, can’t see their teams’ locally televised games. And with a core distribution asset offline — and with no indication that a deal with Altice USA is forthcoming — MSG Networks has been pondering what now looks like an imminent bankruptcy filing.
MSG, which already defaulted in October on service to around $829 million in debt owed to creditors led by JP Morgan, is reportedly missing out on around $10 million a month of revenue with Optimum distribution unavailable to it.
However, according to the New York Post, Amazon is in talks with MSG to provide funding and distribution support to the beleaguered RSN, in much the same way its Amazon Prime Video unit propped up Diamond Sports Group amid its tumultuous bankruptcy proceedings last year.
Diamond has emerged from Chapter 11 and is now called “Main Street Sports Group.” The local sports channels it manages, formerly branded Bally Sports, are now operating under the banner “FanDuel Sports.” In addition to providing Main Street with financing, Amazon now distributes the FanDuel Sports+ DTC app through Prime Video.
Amazon is also an investor in the YES Network, RSN home of the New York Yankees and the NBA’s New York Nets. So if you’re a New York-areas pro sports fan, no matter what team you follow, a Prime Video subscription might soon be table stakes.
Q4 earnings
With Amazon rarely disclosing much about its Prime Video business during its quarterly earnings reports, it was no surprise Thursday that a potential MSG Networks deal didn’t come up when the online retail giant reported its Q4 numbers.
Amazon did reiterate in its earnings release that star-studded original movie Red One, produced by its Amazon MGM Studios division, is now Prime Video’s most popular movie ever, drawing 50 million viewers in its first four days on the platform.
It also flexed previously disclosed metrics surrounding its NFL Thursday Night Football franchise, noting that viewership was up 11% in season three to an average of 13.2 million an installment.
In total, Amazon delivered better-than-expected revenue growth of 10% in Q4 to $187.8 billion. But lower-than-expected revenue guidance for the ongoing Q1 sent the company’s stock down nearly 10% in after-hours trading.