Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth is studying "legal
options" against TCI of South FL because of the cable company's
refusal to put the NHL Panthers' games on TV by not adding
SportsChannel to its lineup of basic channels, according to Steve
Bousquet of the MIAMI HERALD. TCI services 300,000 customers in
Broward and Dade Counties and is the only cable TV operator in
South FL refusing to carry SportsChannel. Bousquet notes FL
State Sen. Ron Silver (D-North Miami Beach) heard complaints from
people and called Butterworth because a cable firm's "monopoly on
its service area might raise antitrust questions." Butterworth
in an October 29 letter to TCI Senior VP/Operations Brendan
Clouston: "This office has this matter under review to determine
the nature and extent of any legal options. It is our hope,
however, that this matter will be amicably resolved by
SportsChannel and your company as soon as possible." TCI
spokesperson Cheryl Blanchette said the company hopes to work out
a "settlement" with SportsChannel. But Dean Jordan, President of
SportsChannel's owner, Front Row Communications, said a deal is
"not very close," because SportsChannel would not accept TCI's
"demands that would undermine" his firm's future negotiating
ability with other South FL cable TV firms. TCI has a
controlling interest in Sunshine Network, which had the rights to
Panthers telecasts in '95, but lost the rights to SportsChannel,
controlled by Panthers Owner Wayne Huizenga (MIAMI HERALD,
10/31).
