YES takes case to fans

The YES Network is buying full- page newspaper ads across the region to accuse Cablevision of refusing to allow a court-appointed mediator to settle an ongoing dispute between the companies.

In an open letter to sports fans, YES Chief Executive Leo Hindery Jr. said if "Cablevision is equally confident that it is behaving reasonably ... then it should agree to allow a third party to decide. If Cablevision refuses this offer, we have to believe it is its anti-competitive behavior that prevents an agreement."


Cablevision, the Long Island- based sports and entertainment conglomerate, is the only cable provider in the region not paying YES's $2 monthly subscriber fee. That has left nearly 3 million households without most Yankees and Nets games, while also saving them from an additional rate increase.

Cablevision spokesman Charlie Schueler said his company would not enter mediation while the YES Network's federal antitrust lawsuit against Cablevision was still pending. "If they were serious about mediation, they would drop the lawsuit," Schueler said.

The latest offensive comes as a proposal that could force Cablevision to put YES on its expanded basic cable system progresses through the Legislature. State Attorney General Peter Harvey also continues his antitrust investigation into the company's business practices.

YES picked up additional support yesterday from Bergen County Executive Dennis McNerney, who said, "County residents who are Cablevision subscribers deserve to know why Cablevision is stonewalling its customers and why this dispute has dragged on for 16 months."

-- Matthew Futterman