Court Rules Against Cable Appeal
A federal appeals court Friday upheld a key portion of the FCC's program access rules that ban exclusive contracts between cable television operators and their affiliated programming networks -- a decision that could have repercussions for the proposed merger of Comcast and NBC Universal, now under government review, CongressDaily reported. The exclusivity prohibition had been challenged by Cablevision and Comcast, whose cases were consolidated by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
But Comcast Chairman and CEO Brian Roberts repeatedly assured lawmakers that his company would abide by the prohibition even if the court struck it down. He reiterated that commitment Thursday during testimony before the Senate Commerce Committee. Friday's decision by a three-judge panel renders his promises moot because Comcast will be required to make its programming available to competitors, including the satellite networks DirecTV and Dish Network.
"We're disappointed that the court has preserved the current unfairness that allows DirecTV to have exclusives for NFL Sunday Ticket and NASCAR Hot Pass," Comcast responded in a statement, referring to programming agreements not covering the ban.
"Whatever the court decided on these rules, we remain prepared to discuss with the FCC having them continue to apply to Comcast as part of the NBCU transaction, if appropriate," it added. Both the FCC and the Justice Department are reviewing the Comcast-NBCU deal. A Comcast spokeswoman said the company does not plan to appeal the decision.
In its 2-1 decision, the court argued that the commission "was reasonable in its conclusion that the prohibition - in its original form - continues to be necessary."
The petitioners had argued that forcing them to share content they own or produce violates their First Amendment rights, and that the FCC misinterpreted provisions in the 1992 Cable Act that created the ban.
"The commission's program access rules have played a vital role in making diverse and attractive video programming available to cable and satellite TV viewers," FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said in a statement. To read more, click here. (Subscription required)
Join the Discussion
The National Journal Group has the right (but not the obligation) to monitor the comments and to remove any materials it deems inappropriate.
Comments powered by Disqus