James Dolan's fierce contract match with the MSG network pulled out the best fat for top executives, but despite the Knicks and Rangers game being blacked out earlier this year, the refund was made refused to provide.
Dennis Matthew, CEO of Optimum's parent company Altice USA, rose from $1 million to $1.55 million a year, while Chief Financial Officer Marc Sirota's base salary jumped from $500,000 to $650,000. According to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission last week.
Matthew, a former Comcast executive, was also given a $3 million target annual cash incentive award and a $10 million target annual long-term annual incentive target.
Sirota receives a bonus totaling approximately $4.5 million.
The pay package approved by the company's board of directors on February 4th was retroactively enacted to January 1st. This was alongside the Islanders, Buffalo Sabres and New Jersey Devils on the same day that an estimated 1 million optimal households in the Tri-State area lost coverage for the Knicks and Rangers.
Optimum paid MSGN for one or more subscribers, which is more than $10 per subscriber, before the contract expired in December. The company wants to renegotiate the so-called freight charges, but both sides remain at a deadlock.
MSG Networks accused them of optimizing pocketing $10 million for each month when negotiations are being dragged down.
“These pay increases are funded at the expense of Altice customers who continue to pay for programming they no longer receive,” a spokesperson for MSG Networks posted Wednesday.
“We are ready to submit to negotiation or binding arbitration to restore the game soon.”
Earlier this week, New York Governor Kathy Hochul said he urged both sides to reach an agreement and directed the Department of Public Services (DPS) to intervene.
The agency gave five days to provide a plan to refund subscribers who understood that the MSG network would remain on the system and paid the fee.
In response, Altice USA defended its position and said it was actively involved with customers to provide personalized support, including covering the cost of purchasing the Gotham Sports app, which costs $29.99 a month. Ta.
New York Attorney General Leticia James, along with officials from New Jersey and Connecticut, pressured Altice to issue a refund.
“We've spent millions of dollars making sure our customers have solutions, helping sports fans and non-sports fans the same way, helping Gotham and moving to cheaper packages. “We'll be doing that,” an Altice USA spokesman posted Wednesday.
The officials argued that Dolan was blamed on the contract dispute.
“The main issue is customer choice in an environment where around 50% of customers have not been coordinated with the MSG network at all last year, but MSG is not exploiting channels to include them as a condition to carry the network. I request it, with almost every customer's package regardless of interest,” the spokesman said.
“The facts are facts: Billionaire Owner James Dolan Earned $47,825,668 in 2024 alone. Overall MSG propertiesand $134,709,240 over the past three yearsall this is when the MSG network is driving bankruptcy. ”
Altice USA was created in 2016 when French telecom giant Altice NV acquired Cablevision from Dolan, Suddenlink Communications, and integrated them.
The stock has taken over 91% since its first public offering in June 2017.
On Wednesday, Altice USA shares closed nearly 7% to $2.70.
Altice USA claims that the MSG network, like other regional sports networks across the country, does not attract the same audience as they once did. We cited Comcast's decision to drop channels from the Xfinity lineup in 2021.
This dispute unveils a greater challenge in the cable television industry, particularly with more viewers moving away from traditional cable subscriptions in favour of streaming services.
This shift, commonly known as “code cut,” has created tension between content providers and distributors over price and accessibility.
Dolan, executive chairman and CEO of MSGN's parent company Sphere Entertainment and Madison Square Garden Sports, is facing economic headaches amid ongoing power losses.
The MSG Network is on the verge of bankruptcy and owes $829 million to a group of lenders led by JPMorgan.
To stabilize the finances, the MSG network can seek external investment from major media companies, according to a post reported earlier this month.
Sphere Entertainment informed the SEC earlier this month that it had reached a tolerance agreement with the lender, which was extended until March 29th.
