Tennis Channel Scores Big Victory At FCC, As Wider Comcast Carriage Is Mandated

Tennis Channel scored an important victory at the FCC, when the agency's Enforcement Bureau "told an administrative law judge that he should mandate Tennis Channel carriage on a 'widely viewed' -- though not necessarily most widely penetrated -- Comcast tier and fine the cable operator the maximum for that program carriage rule violation," according to John Eggerton of MULTICHANNEL NEWS. The fine could be as much as $375,000. The bureau believes Comcast discriminated against the channel. Eggerton noted, "The bureau recommends that the judge force Comcast to carry the channel 'across Comcast's cable systems nationwide on a broadly distributed tier' within the next 30 days and at a price on par with Golf Channel or Versus, both of which are owned by Comcast." The full FCC would vote on the administrative law judge's recommendation (MULTICHANNEL.com, 7/9).