NFL Network will offer free sample

NEW YORK -- The NFL has offered one free week of its network programming to two cable TV operators who do not carry the channel in hopes of breaking a deadlock.

Commissioner Roger Goodell said on Tuesday that the week of Dec. 24 to 30 would be offered as a "free view" for customers of Cablevision and Time Warner Cable, two of the nation's largest cable carriers. The NFL Network would be offered on the expanded basic levels of the two carriers.

Neither Cablevision nor Time Warner carry NFL Network. Three regular-season Thursday night games already have not been available to those customers.

-- The Associated Press