Cablevision offers NFL Network preview

Here I was bracing for an inbox inundated by frustrated Giants fans when lo and behold this news arrived Friday from Cablevision (which owns Newsday, by the way):

Starting Sunday the company is providing its metropolitan-area customers a free preview of the NFL Network on Channel 11. Hey, can’t argue with free previews. But the keys here are the timing and channel location.

It just so happens that the Giants play the Panthers Thursday night on NFLN, and it just so happens that WPIX, normally seen on Channel 11, is the broadcast simulcast outlet for the game, a league-mandated must for all games on ESPN or NFLN.

Well, Cablevision has been locked in a carriage dispute with Tribune, which owns WPIX, since mid-August, so the many Cablevision homes with service packages that do not include NFLN were in danger of missing the Giants altogether.

Now they're not. Enjoy the game!