IP Democracy: Feds Look at Cable Regional Sports Networks

Bill McConnell from The Deal has a piece on how the FTC is looking at regional cable sports networks in the context of the Adelphia buyout by Comcast and Time Warner. The issue: whether cable operators have too much power over the pay-television market. Specifically, the feds are examining whether Comcast, which owns terrestrially delivered regional premium sports channels such as SportsNet Chicago and SportsNet Mid-Atlantic, should make its content available to competitors.

DirectTV, Dish Network and RCN all have asked regulators to require that Comcast submit any disputes over access to sports channels to arbitration by an outside mediator so that rivals have a chance of carrying networks at a fair price. There is already one precedent for such an arbitration requirement. As a condition of News Corp.’s acquisition of DirecTV in 2003, the FCC required that an arbitrator resolve any programming disputes between cable operators.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on August 22, 2005 8:02 AM to IP Democracy