A U.S. rule that could help bring sports to more television viewers “withstood a challenge from Cablevision Systems Corp. in a court decision” issued Friday, according to Todd Shields of BLOOMBERG NEWS. The U.S. Court of Appeals in DC said that the FCC “acted within its rights in a January 2010 ruling that aimed to make coverage of sports teams more widely available.” The judges in a 3-0 ruling said that “withholding sports programming can place competitors at a ‘serious disadvantage.’” Comcast “withholds its SportsNet coverage of professional teams in Philadelphia from DirecTV and Dish.” AT&T and Verizon also “have complained to the FCC of not being able to buy access to sports programming controlled by” Cablevision. The FCC last year “decided companies such as DirecTV, AT&T and Verizon are harmed when they’re unable to get access to cable-owned sports shows.” AT&T Senior VP/Federal Regulatory Bob Quinn in an e-mailed statement said the company is “hopeful that the FCC now will move quickly on our pending complaint against Cablevision” (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 6/10). CABLEFAX DAILY writes Cablevision’s challenge of the FCC ruling that “closes the so-called terrestrial ‘loophole’ wasn’t a total loss.” Cablevision is “pleased with a 2nd part of the ruling that vacates a portion of the order that declares exclusive terrestrial programming contracts as categorically unfair and remands it to the FCC for further proceedings” (CABLEFAX DAILY, 6/13 issue).
