MSG Network coverage was restored ahead of the NHL game between the Rangers and the Sabres on February 22. (Al Bello/Getty Images)

After over a month of turmoil, US TV provider Optimum has reached an agreement with regional TV broadcaster MSG Networks to end the bitter carriage dispute the pair had been embroiled in.

New York governor Kathy Hochul announced the end of a 52-day back-and-forth confrontation in a statement where she said she had directed the city’s Department of Public Service to “call for public hearings on how consumers are being shortchanged by weeks of corporate bickering.”

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The regional networks’ service was restored on Optimum on February 22, ahead of that night’s ice hockey fixture between the New York Rangers and the Buffalo Sabres, two teams covered by MSG Networks.

Terms of the new carriage deal between the two have not been revealed.

MSG Networks, which broadcast home games featuring the NBA’s New York Knicks, and four NHL franchises – the New York Rangers, New York Islanders, New Jersey Devils, and the Buffalo Sabres – had been blacked out on Optimum since December 31 last year.

The dispute stemmed from an argument during carriage deal renewal negotiations between the two.

In a statement, Optimum alleged that MSG Networks demanded both an “exorbitant” higher programming fee, and for the MSG channels to be made available to all Optimum subscribers rather than through different subscription packages.

MSG Networks, however, placed the blame solely at Optimum’s feet, saying the Altice-owned TV provider had abandoned negotiations, urging its customers to abandon the telecoms firm in favor of rival Verizon and its Verizon Fios bundled internet and TV service.

Verizon, a partner of MSG Networks owner Madison Square Garden Corp in a number of other business areas, even went so far as to launch a website, keepmsg.com, where it is informing Optimum customers how to switch providers, and asking them to lobby for an end to the blackout deal.

Prior to the pair reaching an agreement, multiple New York area politicians had called on Optimum to refund customers who were were paying for MSG Networks without receiving the service.