King Rants on MSG

No, I am not talking about the crap that they put into Chinese food but the Madison Square Garden Network (MSG) that we watch on cable TV. It seems that MSG and Time Warner (TW) are at odds over what TW will pay MSG for programming. From what I gather there was a deal but MSG backed out because TW would not add MSG's rotten FUSE network to their lineup. Now MSG wants even more scratch from TW. At 12:00 a.m. tonight MSG gets blacked out which means that I lose my Sabres. You might think that I would be very upset over this but, after watching the Sabres play lately, I consider this an act of mercy by the MSG network to all of mankind.
The Sabres lost to Ottawa tonight in a shootout 3-2 but Ottawa could, and should, have won the game 9-2 as they hit the goalpost six times and the crossbar once. This means that they beat Sabre goalie Jhonas Enroth a total of nine times yet they only scored twice. Watching the Sabres play in the offensive zone has been very offensive lately. Their passing is pathetic as it seems the passes are always behind their teammates or in their teammate's skates so they waste valuable time getting control of the puck. And that is when they pass to their own team mates. When their passes are on the tape it is usually to one of the opponents who then skate off on a break. I won't miss that. Mindy Ruff has to go!!
Back to MSG, I actually wonder what the companies that advertise on MSG are going to think when a huge chunk of MSG's audience gets blacked out. They are not going to want to pay the advertising rates that MSG charges for a normal audience. But that does not seem to stop these networks from trying to suck every last dime out of us since if TW has to pay more who gets stuck with the bill? It is we the viewers.
I am getting sick of these constant blackout threats from these networks. Earlier in the year it was the ESPN family of networks that were going to get blacked out on TW but, in the end, a deal was hammered out keeping ESPN on the air.
When I had DirecTV the Versus Network got blacked out for a few months but then it returned in time for the NHL playoffs. Times are hard and it is getting to the point where the cost of getting cable or satellite TV is going to be prohibitive. Right now I have a two year deal with TW that holds my costs but when that expires next June I can't wait to see what happens to my bill. I cannot threaten to go back to satellite TV as Moronica is heavily forested and the one line of sight I had to the satellites has now been blocked by the ever growing trees. It would suck if I had to make a decision to get rid of cable because your King likes his tube. I enjoy the Science and Discovery networks on cable and watch them a lot to try to broaden my feeble mind. Oh well, maybe I can cut back on what I eat. Maybe I can make more Hamburger Helper without the hamburger. Boy does that sound tasty, doesn't it? My dad used to make spaghetti and he would put a little butter on it and eat it. Maybe that will be back on my menu more often but I digress. MSG and TW should get a deal done ASAP. All their sniping does is piss off the consumers, namely us. I am sick of seeing MSG's commercials telling us to switch to satellite. What happens when MSG and the satellite companies start sniping with each other?? As you can see it is just a stupid, vicious cycle and it makes your King very upset. I can live without watching the Sabres on TV and MSG had better understand that if we stop having access to their programming they may not get their audience back when they finally do come to terms. I wish I could tell both MSG and TW to take a hike.
Well, I have groused about this subject enough and it riles me up the more I think about it so I will now end this rant by wishing all of my valued readers a very pleasant evening. Good night!