Major League Baseball has reached an agreement with Verizon for the new MLB Network and the MLB Extra Innings package to be available on Verizon's FiOS fiber-optic television service. MLB Network, which will be launched Jan. 1, will offer live games, classic games, original programming and highlights.

FiOS isn't yet available in North Carolina, but Time Warner is a minority partner in MLB Network, which will be aired as part of Time Warner Cable's digital basic service. Time Warner already offers Extra Innings, but games involving the Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles aren't included because TWC has not been able to reach an agreement with MASN, which is co-owned by and has the rights to the Orioles and Nationals.

As for the NFL Network, Time Warner is "not encouraged" that it will reach a deal with the NFL this year, TWC spokeswoman Melissa Buscher says.

Like MASN, the NFL wants its network to be available as part of Time Warner's standard cable service. TWC "remains interested," Buscher says, in carrying the NFL Network on a digital sports tier, which is available to subscribers willing to pay extra for it. "We have received no recent indication from the NFL that they're interested in negotiating such a deal," Buscher says.

Time Warner's stance: A network that airs only eight live games a year isn't worth the asking price of "tens of millions of dollars," Buscher says.

Interesting footnote: Last month, the chief of the FCC's Media Bureau, Monica Shah Desai, found that the NFL had established a prima facie case that cable corporation Comcast had illegally discriminated against the NFL Network and had required that Comcast have a financial interest in the programming as a condition for carrying it. The NFL's dispute with Comcast centers on the cable company's decision to move the NFL Network from a digital basic tier to a more expensive sports tier.

Desai is the same person who backed two different arbitrators' findings that Time Warner Cable had discriminated against MASN. Time Warner plans to appeal her decision to the full, five-member commission.

From Talking Points:

If you're a DirecTV or Dish Network customer, don't bother looking for the 39 Bobcats games being broadcast on Fox Sports Carolinas. As viewers in the Triangle found out last night, the two satellite providers are only carrying the Bobcats in the Charlotte area.

Read more here.

If you're a DirecTV or Dish Network customer, don't bother looking for the 39 Bobcats games being broadcast on Fox Sports Carolinas. As viewers in the Triangle found out last night, the two satellite providers are only carrying the Bobcats in the Charlotte area.

Federal Communications Commission Mary Diamond says Time Warner Cable has 30 days to appeal a ruling in the MASN case to the full, five-member commission. But Diamond couldn't say how long the appeal would take once it is filed.

TWC is continuing its fight despite FCC Media Bureau Chief Monica Shah Desai's order on Thursday that the cable TV company put MASN on a standard analog tier within 30 days. The FCC official backed two previous rulings by arbitrators that Time Warner has unlawfully discriminated against MASN, which carries the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals.

On a Thursday when the main news focused on what Time Warner Cable doesn't offer — MASN — the cable TV company also was recognized for what it does offer, winning a CableFax Magazine national award for Best Video on Demand for its Channel 1234 coverage of high school football and other sports.

The Federal Communications Commission has denied an appeal by Time Warner Cable and ordered the cable television company to begin carrying the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network on a basic analog tier within 30 days.

Or, "in time for college basketball season," MASN spokesman Todd Webster says.

But TWC isn't giving up in its long dispute with MASN. The company issued a one-sentence response when informed of the FCC's Media Bureau's decision: "We disagree with the Media Bureau's decision and plan to appeal to the full commission."

MASN carries Major League Baseball's Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals, as well as college football, basketball and other sports. Under MLB's territorial rights map, the Triangle is Orioles and Nationals territory, so during the course of this dispute, cable customers have been unable to watch those games.

But Time Warner has argued that teams so far away from this market would not interest all of its huge basic cable audience and that MASN thus should be made available to subscribers willing to pay extra for a digital sports tier.

Two arbitrators have ruled that Time Warner Cable has discriminated against MASN, an independent regional sports network, and TWC had filed a "petition for review" with the FCC. FCC Media Bureau Chief Monica Shah Desai's denial came today.

This can still be classified as a standoff between the cable television company and the regional sports network that has the rights to televise the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals. You may recall that the Triangle is in the designated TV rights territory of the O's and Nationals, meaning that TWC customers can't watch those baseball games, or any of MASN's college programming, etc., as long as there's no deal.

But there may be movement in the next week or so when the FCC is expected to rule on Time Warner's appeal of decisions by two different arbitrators that it discriminated against MASN by refusing to offer the independent regional sports network as part of its standard cable package. TWC wants to put MASN on a more expensive digital tier, available to those willing to subscribe to it — a much smaller audience.

Time Warner has argued that this should be resolved through the normal course of business negotiations, not by an arbitrator, and that standard cable customers shouldn't be forced to absorb a price hike for programming that may be of little interest to them.

Two arbitrators found that TWC had treated MASN differently fromregional sports networks affiliated with the cable company.

Time Warner Cable, which announced a deal with the Big Ten Network last month, will offer the network to digital and high-definition customers in the Carolinas, starting Thursday.

In addition to  seeing  a potentially strong market of Big Ten fans who've moved to the region, Time Warner has reason to demonstrate a commitment to sports programming, given its recent disagreements with the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network and the NFL Network.

To get the Big Ten Network, you'll need a digital converter box — there's no charge to swap your current box at one of TWC's payment centers — and you have to subscribe to the cable company's sports tier, which costs an extra $3.50 per month.

The 24-hour-a-day Big Ten Network will be available on the following channels:

Raleigh — 323 (standard definition) and  287 (high definition)
Greensboro — 189 (SD) and 571 (HD)
Charlotte — 136 (SD) and 288 (HD)
Statesville/Iredell — 425 (SD) and 719 (HD)
Wilmington — 135 (SD) and 954 (HD)
South Carolina — 148 (SD) and 956 (HD)

This Saturday, the Big Ten Network will air the Minnesota-Ohio State football game at noon.