Two years without the Tennis Channel: the dispute between Cablevision and the TC: the deeper issues.

Three years ago, I unequivocally lauded the Tennis Channel in a post aptly titled "The Tennis Channel: The Coming of Age for an elitist sport."

 In September of 2010 when I posted the blog, there was a cozy relationship between the TC and Cablevision (CV).

 For a $4.95 fee, I was able to enjoy 24/7 access to dozens of non-major tournaments as well as the Grand Slams.

 All that changed on fourth of  September 2011-- during the US Open. 

CV and Vios pulled TC from its lineup during the US Open and I could no longer access Channel 399 when I most enjoyed its coverage!

What's at issue here?

It's simply, greed, greed and more greed--involving both companies.

The TC wanted to move its Channel from CV's 'premium' sports tier to basic cable.

TC wanted basic because its content would be available to a much much larger audience than the more limited sports tier.

 Thus it could charge more for its advertising for indeed viewers of tennis are a prime market  for Rolex watches, Mercedes and Lexuses autos,etc.

At the same time, TC was negotiating higher fees from the CV for a vastly increased audience.

This proposal did not sit well with CV because it would lose the lucrative sports package fees it was used to reaping which presumably would far outweigh the increased fees payable to the TC.

Fast forward to February 2013.

Just after negotiating lower monthly cable fees from Cablevision after they raised my 'triple play' coverage nearly 50%,  CV sent me a bill with a brand new sports surcharge--without any announcement-- of  $2.98 per month.

CV says they must collect these additional dollars because the sports channels are asking more for content.

While it offers ESPN and ESPN 2, CV does not offer ESPN 3 which provides additional tennis coverage during the US Open.

Nor does it offer the TC as part of the surcharge.

And what I've read from recent blogs, many sports fans do not want many of these sports 'packages' such as MSG, SNY, Yes, etc.  --AND YET WE ARE FORCED TO PAY EXTRA FOR UNWANTED basic cable sports programming.

Shame on both sides for shafting the consumer in their pursuit of the dollar.

Enter the unspoken hero usopen .org website which in an effort to spread the excitement of watching top tennis offers live streaming coverage of up to six matches with minimal advertising along with PIP, match chat and match stats.

Hail to the US Open organization.