The fight between MSG and Time Warner Cable—the latter of which blocked channels from the former on January 1—continues unabated and fans are now coming up with interesting ways to get their Knicks-fix. Like, actually buying tickets to the games. Meanwhile, Time Warner Cable is rolling out fancy toys as a way to keep its customers placated (Fred Wilson, are you happy now?). more ›

As you contemplate how much your cable TV habit it costing you, Time Warner Cable has announced that the MSG Network pulled MSG and MSG Plus from the cable carrier. And MSG says that Time Warner dropped them! more ›

Finally, some muscle to match the unabated monopolies of the telecom industry: Beth Israel Medical Center is suing Verizon for overbilling them $9 million for services they didn't want in the first place. According to the complaint, they got away with it because of their confusing billing scheme, and "Verizon's guide and website are designed to be impenetrable to its customers." But Big Red isn't paying up, and continues to charge an 18 percent interest rate on the hospital's unpaid bills until the dispute is settled. more ›

In case you weren't aware: slingin' dogs is dangerous. After a turf dispute outside the Timer Warner offices on Columbus Circle, a hot dog vendor slashed his competitor in the face with a razor, the Post reports. Azmy Mansour, who had only shown up in the locale a week earlier, angrily approached the cart of brothers Mohammed and Houssen Ellaboudiy. After Houssen told him he was acting crazy, Mansour allegedly said "You want crazy? You'll see crazy!" and lunged at Houssen, a father of one. more ›

With more and more customers fleeing, cable companies have claimed that customers are just reacting to the recession, not the growth of viewing opportunities on the Internet. But, next week, Time Warner Cable is launching a trial of a stripped-down, cheaper cable package, which the NY Times believes is "an apparent attempt to retain cable customers who are thinking of canceling, or to woo back people who have already canceled." more ›

Guess what—waiting around for the cable guy to arrive has just gotten a little more interesting, because the city has just worked out a deal with the two major cable companies over their service technicians' tendency to be late. The NY Times reports, "Under the terms of a new contract that has been negotiated with City Hall, Time Warner Cable and Cablevision will have to pay a price for failing to honor appointments... The contract will make cable customers eligible for a credit amounting to full month’s bill if a technician does not arrive on time." more ›

A Time Warner cable employee allegedly got so frustrated while installing cable services in Queens that he whacked customer John Alexander in the head with a hammer. Alexander allegedly had the audacity to ask Arnold Brown to move some cords out of the way, which escalated into a fight that resulted in assault, menacing and harassment charges for Brown. Alexander plans to sue Time Warner for $1 million, and his lawyer said, "They definitely had words, but that doesn't condone hitting someone with a hammer in the head." more ›

After threatening to pull its stations—and programs like the Sugar Bowl and American Idol— from Time Warner cable systems at the stroke of New Year's and then remaining on air while it extended talks, News Corp. has come to an agreement with Time Warner Cable over subscriber fees. However, neither side would disclose the terms of the agreement. more ›

It's a New Year's miracle: While News Corp. threatened to pull its stations from Time Warner Cable systems during subscriber fee negotiations at midnight, Fox remained on air. It turned out that two media behemoths agreed to extend talks. The Wall Street Journal reports they have "avert[ed] any programming disruptions for cable subscribers for the time being." more ›

Fox says it's ready to pull its stations from Time Warner Cable lineups at midnight in its dispute with the cable operator over subscriber fees. News Corp president and COO Chase Carey wrote in a memo to staffers, "it looks like we will not reach an agreement and our channels may very well go off the air in Time Warner Cable systems at midnight [Dec. 31]," putting the 2010 fate of shows like American Idol, House and 24, not to mention sports programming like the Sugar Bowl, in jeopardy. more ›

With music and movie downloads prompting its customers to use loads of bandwidth, Time Warner Cable is testing out a controversial tiered-pricing plan for bandwidth usage in Rochester, NY, plus North Carolina and Texas: According to eWeek, "In addition to 5, 10, 20 and 40GB caps, the company said this week that it would offer a 100GB tier for heavy users. Prices (so far) would range from $29.95 to $75.00 a month, and users would be charged an extra dollar for every additional gigabyte they download, up to a maximum of $75. An 'unlimited' bandwidth plan, therefore, tops out at $150." more ›

Folks on Time Warner Cable, don't worry: You'll be able to see Double Shot of Love—and any other program on a Viacom channel like Comedy Central, MTV, VH1 and Nickelodeon—in 2009. After the possibility that Viacom would yank its programming from TWC today, over a dispute over subscriber fees (Viacom wanted a 12% annual fee increase—$39 million/year—but TWC said the economy wouldn't allow it), the two companies agreed to a deal to make sure they didn't piss off cable subscribers... or viewers. more ›

Knock knock! Who's there? It's the hunky Time Warner cable guy of your dreams! You know, the one that doesn't exist. The company has released a calendar for the new year, and the Daily News has revealed each month's photos (which include the men, and some women, of TWC). NYMag declares that it will make all of your Time Warner Cable guy fantasies come true (except "the ones where you murder the dude for telling you to be home from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. when he actually shows up at 3 p.m."). more ›

Ooh: Silicon Alley Insider brings word that Verizon just got approval from the NY State Public Service Commission to bring FIOS to NYC. Apparently FIOS TV will launch TV service in the "coming weeks," as "it's already been taking orders in launch neighborhoods." When it was first announced the cable TV-phone-Internet option was coming to town in April, the city said, "This is a historic agreement that when approved for the first time will bring true cable television service competition in each in every home in all five boroughs of New York." It's hoped that FIOS will be available to 30% of NYers by the end of the year. more ›

April 30th marks the date when cable viewers in Queens and Brooklyn can see NY1 in glorious high definition joining those in Staten Island who got it first. Fans of Pat Kiernan who live in Manhattan (along with New Jersey and the Hudson Valley) will have to wait a bit longer, with Time Warner promising to roll it out for them by the end of the year. more ›

Wouldn't it be funny, Mayor Bloomberg and his girlfriend Diana Taylor, and Ice-T and wife Coco, enjoying a meal out? Alas, it's just a fantasy inspired by the Mayor's and the rapper-actor's appearance announcing that VH1 Save the Music and Time Warner Cable had donated $1 million of musical instruments to NYC public schools. Studies have shown that music education can positively impact children's lives, which raised some questions about the Mayor's musical abilities:

Reporter: Did you ever try to play a musical instrument, which one was it, and what was your success? more ›

Today, the NY Post cover-stories the "sorry slide" of Rachel Bruno, the granddaughter of State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno. Last week, she had been reported missing, only to turn up in Times Square with a man whose had tangled with the law over getting information about prostitution busts. While the Bruno family is keeping quiet, the Post talks to Rachel's boyfriend, Kyle Seitz. The two had been living together for about a month, until one he came home and found all of her things were gone.

She had left him before - cheated on him with men she'd met on MySpace, he said. But always locally. more ›

Internet service provider giving you some trouble (*cough* *cough* Time Warner Cable Sucks *cough* *cough*)? Looking to sniff out some free internet in the meantime? Symantec to the rescue... Sort of. As part of an internet security study the company sent a bunch of shmoes around the city with maps, laptops, wifi cards, antennas, and NetStumbler. The result is a breakdown by neighborhood of the percentage of wireless networks that are password protected. more ›

Last night we had a discovery...Channel 1017 (if you use Time Warner Cable) is KARAOKE ON DEMAND! With songs ranging from "Baby Got Back" to "Afternoon Delight" we were really, possibly unneccessarily, excited to find this. more ›

Radio owners can tune on over to WFAN 660 AM and spendthrift technophiles can listen to baseball game this season for $14.95 with MLB's Gameday Audio. The first pitch is scheduled for 2:10. more ›

Some clutch jumpers by Kurt Thomas and a banked in three pointer at the buzzer by Jamal Crawford helped the Knicks beat the Houston Rockets and former coach Jeff Van Gundy 93-92 last night in Texas. Crawford finished the night with 19 points and Thomas added an impressive 23 points and 14 rebounds. They both carried the Knicks to their first road win of the season, while Houston has lost four out of their last five games. more ›