NFL Net To File FCC Complaint Over Comcast's Actions In Dispute
NFL Network plans to file a formal complaint with the FCC, alleging that Comcast has engaged in anti-competitive practices. NFL Network says Comcast’s move to place the channel on a sports tier, while keeping the sports channels that it owns primarily on expanded basic tiers, is a violation of the '92 Cable Act. “We don’t believe that Comcast should charge consumers extra for our network while making sports channels it owns available to all viewers on a less costly basis,” said NFL Network President & CEO Steve Bornstein. “After months of trying to get Comcast to negotiate fair treatment, we have been forced to turn to the FCC.” The complaint also will allege that Comcast is retaliating against the NFL because the league decided not to sell its late-season eight-game package to Versus. The NFL claims Comcast “wanted an unacceptable condition in the deal that would have violated the NFL’s longstanding policy of free television coverage of games in the cities of the two competing teams.” NFL Network has an ongoing suit to prevent Comcast from moving the channel to a sports tier (John Ourand, THE DAILY). Comcast Senior Dir of Corporate Communications & Government Affairs Sena Fitzmaurice said that the NFL is "trying to get out of the deal it made with" the company. Fitzmaurice: "The agreement we have to carry the NFL Network is pro-consumer. It allows us to place this expensive channel on a tier of service for those who wish to pay for it, not on a tier where everyone must pay for it" (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 4/18).
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