Printer Friendly Format




FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 12, 2003
PR- 071-03
www.nyc.gov


MAYOR MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERG ANNOUNCES AGREEMENT BETWEEN
YES NETWORK AND CABLEVISION

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg tonight announced an agreement between the YES Network and Cablevision to permit carriage of New York Yankee baseball games in the New York City area.  Cablevision President and CEO Jim Dolan and YES Network Chairman Leo Hindery Jr. joined the Mayor at Gracie Mansion for the announcement.

 “I am thrilled to announce that Cablevision and the YES Network have reached an agreement which will permit every Yankee fan to watch every game the Bronx Bombers play this season.

“Two weeks ago I asked two great New Yorkers, Jerry Levin and Dick Aurelio, to serve as mediators to assist in bringing about an agreement between Cablevision and the YES Network to permit carriage of New York Yankee baseball games on Cablevision’s cable systems in the New York City area.  With their assistance, the two parties have today reached a one-year interim agreement, which will be effective March 31, with the beginning of the baseball season. The two mediators will continue to assist the parties in negotiating a permanent carriage agreement during the next year. If they fail, both parties have agreed to submit the dispute to binding arbitration on February 1, 2004. I would like to thank Jim Dolan of Cablevision and Leo Hindery of the YES Network for coming to this agreement as well as Gerry Levin and Richard Aurelio, for mediating this dispute in time for opening day,” Mayor Bloomberg said.

“Baseball is not only America’s pastime, it is a New York City tradition and all of its fans should be able to watch their favorite team play.  And the 3 million Cablevision subscribers in the New York City area, 500,000 of whom live in Brooklyn and the Bronx, will now be able to watch the 120 games that will be televised on the YES Network this season,” Mayor Bloomberg concluded.

Leo Hindery Jr. is the Chairman and CEO of the YankeeNets Yes Network. 
He has served as the CEO of Global Crossing and President and CEO of AT&T Broadband & Internet Services.  He also served as President and CEO of Tele-Communications, Inc. (TCI) before its acquisition by AT&T. While President and CEO of TCI, he was also CEO of TCI's two tracking stock entities, Liberty Media and TCI Ventures.  Before joining TCI in March 1997, Hindery was Managing General Partner of InterMedia Partners, which he founded in 1988 and built into the nation's ninth largest cable company. Before launching InterMedia, Hindery was Chief Officer for Planning and Finance of The Chronicle Publishing Company.  He is a member of the Stanford Business School Advisory Council, a trustee of Hampton University, and a director of the Daniels Fund. He received his M.B.A. degree with honors from Stanford University Graduate School of Business and his undergraduate degree with honors from Seattle University.

As chief executive of Cablevision Systems Corporation, James L. Dolan oversees the company's extensive telecommunications and entertainment businesses. Under his direction, Cablevision is one of the nation's largest operators of cable television systems, developing and delivering the benefits of broadband electronic communications to its customers.  Mr. Dolan serves as chairman of Madison Square Garden, presiding over the six-person Office of the Chairman, which oversees the management of the Garden entities.  Prior to assuming his present post at Cablevision, Mr. Dolan amassed more than two decades of experience in the management of cable systems, cable programming and advertising.  In the early 1990s, Mr. Dolan served for three years as chief executive officer of Rainbow Programming Holdings, Inc. (now Rainbow Media Holdings, Inc.), a subsidiary of Cablevision and a leader in the development of niche programming.   Mr. Dolan began his career with Cablevision in the 1970s in the Plainview, N.Y. cable system.  Mr. Dolan is a member of the board of directors of Cablevision Systems Corporation and serves on its executive committee. He is also a member of television station WNET's board of trustees and the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research's board of directors. In addition, Mr. Dolan is honorary chair of Cable Positive's board of directors and serves as chairman of the Capital Campaign Committee at Friends Academy.  Mr. Dolan is a dedicated yachtsman and avid musician. He and his wife Kristin reside on Long Island.

Richard Aurelio retired from Time Warner in 1998 after serving as President of New York 1 News since its founding in 1992.  He had joined Warner Communications in 1979 as senior vice president of government affairs, directed the company's franchising operations, then served as senior vice president of programming, marketing and sales, president of BQ Cable, where he supervised the building of the cable systems in Brooklyn and Queens, and later, the rebuilding of the Manhattan systems. Following the merger of Time Inc. and Warner Communications in 1989, Aurelio took charge of all of the company's New York City cable operations, stepping down from that position in 1997.   A former First Deputy Mayor of New York City during the Lindsay administration, Aurelio has had a 45-year career in government, journalism and communications. After Air Force service during the Korean War, he was a news reporter and news editor of Newsday in the 1950s, later became administrative assistant to U.S. Senator Jacob K. Javits, a political consultant to several national political leaders, and an executive of two international public relations firms. He was campaign manager of Mayor Lindsay's successful reelection campaign in 1969, after which he became Deputy Mayor.

Until he resigned as the CEO of AOL Time Warner in 2002, Gerry Levin was in charge of the Company's six businesses: interactive services and properties (America Online), networks (Turner Broadcasting, Home Box Office), publishing (Time Inc., Time Warner Trade Publishing), filmed entertainment (Warner Bros., New Line Cinema), music (Warner Music Group), and cable systems (Time Warner cable).   Levin had been Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Time Warner Inc., and was the leading architect of the Time Inc. and Warner Communications merger in 1990, as well as the prime mover of Time Warner's 1996 agreement to merge with Turner Broadcasting System.  Levin joined Time Inc. in 1972 and served as Home Box Office's Vice President of Programming, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman. In 1975 Levin made the historic decision to distribute HBO via satellite, which helped create the modern cable industry.   Levin was previously affiliated with the Development and Resources Corporation, an international investment and management company, and the International Basic Economy Corporation. He also worked as an attorney with the New York City firm of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.   Levin graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Haverford College and earned a legal degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He has received honorary degrees from Texas College, Middlebury College, the University of Denver and Haverford College.


 

www.nyc.gov

Contact: Edward Skyler / Jerry Russo 
(212) 788-2958