Washington, D.C. (September 23, 2011) -- The FCC yesterday ordered Cablevision to make available the High-Definition signals for MSG and MSG+ to its rivals AT&T and Verizon.

The federal agency agreed with Verizon and AT&T that Cablevision has improperly withheld access to the new high-def sports channels which have the rights to games played by the New York Knicks and the New York Rangers.

FCC rules say cable TV operators can not deny their competitors access to channels they own. Cablevision claimed that a loophole in the rules permitted them to do so, but a federal court and now the FCC have said the cable operator was wrong.

Still, Cablevision issued a statement yesterday saying that it will continue to pursue the case in the courts. It's unclear if Cablevision's appeals will hold up AT&T and Verizon receiving the high-def signals. The FCC said in its ruling that MSG has 30 days to reach an agreement with AT&T and Verizon on the high-def channels.

Cablevision said that its two telco rivals were not hurt by its decision to deny access to the HD channels because they did give them the channels' standard-def channels.

But the FCC said withholding the high-def channels prevented the telcos from "providing a competing video service."

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