The MSG and MSG Plus networks were removed from Time Warner Cable’s New York metropolitan-area and Buffalo systems at midnight Eastern on Saturday, cutting off subscribers from Knicks, Rangers, Islanders, Devils and Buffalo Sabres games. In total, the dispute affects 1.7 million cable homes.

Replacing the scheduled programming were messages from Time Warner Cable that included: “We take pride in bringing viewers the best in sports — and work hard to keep the price of TV reasonable.”

The two sides have argued in television and newspapers advertisements for the last two weeks, staking out positions echoing earlier disputes, mostly about pricing, that led to blackouts of local and national sports networks.

“All we have asked is for Time Warner Cable to value our programming in the same way as other TV providers — nothing more, nothing less,” Michael Bair, the president of MSG Media, said in a statement issued at 8 p.m. Saturday. “Unfortunately, they have rejected every offer we made to them for almost two years.”