IP Democracy: Cable Rivals: No Program Access, No Adelphia Deal

A group of cable foes have formed a coalition to urge the FTC and the FCC to make approval of Comcast’s and Time Warner’s purchase of Adelphia contingent on closing a “loophole” in the 1992 Act. DirecTV, EchoStar Communications and RCN have formed an alliance with The America Channel, Center for Creative Voices in Media, Media Access Project and Mid-Atlantic Sports Network to form the Competition and Diversity Coalition on the Adelphia Transaction, according to this piece by the National Journal’s Drew Clark.

The coalition wants to condition the antitrust and FCC approvals on both Comcast and Time Warner giving competitive programming distributors the rights to carry terrestrially delivered video programming. Under the 1992 Cable Act, vertically integrated companies (companies that own both cable systems and cable networks) have to give rivals access to programming — but only if it’s delivered via satellite.

Networks that are delivered via land-lines or microwave — particularly Comcast’s popular regional sports networks — can remain exclusive to cable. When News Corp. bought EchoStar, that deal was contingent upon News Corp. agreeing that it would not withhold Fox networks from competitors, such as cable operators.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on January 19, 2006 5:53 PM to IP Democracy