U.S. District Court Judge William Martinez found it "'plausible' that Comcast is refusing to make a good offer to license Altitude" so that it can "drive this Denver-area RSN out of business and capture the programming for its own NBC-branded sports channel," according to Eriq Gardner of the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. The decision to "partially reject Comcast's motion to dismiss came on Friday" and, as such, the company "must continue to face an antitrust lawsuit." The controversy "surrounds Comcast's refusal to extend the old contract for Altitude for an additional few years with a modest bump in the carriage rate." Instead, Comcast "wanted to move Altitude to a 'sports tier' on the cable dial and make its subscribers pay an additional fee to get the channel." The result "would lower Altitude's access to Comcast subscribers and mean less money." Altitude asserts that accepting Comcast's terms "would ultimately oust it from the market and that Comcast has made no such arrangement with any affiliated RSN throughout the nation." Gardner: "In other words, Comcast is allegedly attempting to bully an independent, and as Altitude claims, take control." Martinez in his 41-page opinion "does see something worth exploring in Altitude's allegation that Comcast's hard bargaining position may amount to a refusal to deal instead of a legitimate effort to keep prices down" (HOLLYWOODREPORTER.com, 11/30).
