Tennis Channel Wins Landmark FCC Decision

Written by: Staff on 22nd December 2011

Tennis Channel Wins Landmark FCC Decision |

Tennis Channel has won its carriage complaint hearing against cable giant Comcast, the first time that a cable operator has been found to violate the program carriage anti-discrimination rules that the Federal Communications Commission put into place in 1993.

FCC Chief Administrative Law Judge Richard Sippel issued a 54-page ruling orders Comcast to discontinue its practice of discriminating against Tennis Channel in favor of its wholly owned, competing sports networks Golf Channel and Versus (which will be renamed NBC Sports Network at the start of 2012).

Sippel wrote that Comcast had engaged in a “serious violation of law” by “discriminat[ing] against Tennis Channel in favor of Golf Channel and Versus in terms and conditions of their distribution.”

The FCC’s order directs Comcast to “proceed as soon as practicable with remediation.”

This order requires Comcast to carry Tennis Channel at the same level of distribution that it provides to these networks, with a limited exception for certain analog systems.

“This is a long-awaited day for Tennis Channel, and a watershed moment for independent programming networks and viewers who benefit from a true diversity of voices in the American media marketplace,” Ken Solomon, chairman and CEO, Tennis Channel said. “Our request has been simple and clear since the beginning: we just want to be treated the same way major operators treat the networks they own that compete with us. From there we’re prepared to succeed or fail based on a level playing field.”

However, the story is not over yet as Comcast will appeal the decision to the full FCC commission.

Sena Fitzmaurice, vice president, government communications, Comcast Corp., told Multichannel News: “We respectfully disagree with the initial decision that was released today in the FCC case involving Tennis Channel. Comcast has the contractual right to distribute Tennis Channel as it does currently, and Comcast firmly believes that the exercise of that right to minimize costs to consumers is not discrimination. Many other companies with no ownership interest in Tennis Channel have made similar decisions and some refuse to carry Tennis Channel at all. The ruling issued today is only an initial decision, and is subject to further review by the full Commission and then, if needed, the U.S. Court of Appeals. We believe it is wrong for Tennis Channel to use the government to impose higher costs and prices on private enterprise and consumers and we look forward to the review process.”

When discussing “many other companies with no ownership interest in Tennis Channel” having made similar decisions, Fitzmaurice was likely referring to Cablevision and Verizon, both which dropped Tennis Channel during the 2011 US Open in disputes as to which tiers it should be carried on.

However, the judge’s decision could open the door for other channels to challenge Comcast. Bloomberg TV also has an outstanding complaint against Comcast at the FCC and used the Tennis Channel decision to state that that the cable giant is also discriminating against independent news channels.

If Tennis Channel should eventually get placed on the Comcast tier that it wants to be on, it will be a boon to the network.

It currently has around 30 million subscribers, a total that includes 2.7 million with Comcast. The network’s total if it’s placed on a basic tier on Comcast could grow to huge numbers.

Topics: Tennis Channel