Tennis Channel Seeks Full Court Review Of Carriage Complaint Decision

Multichannel news ^ | Jul 12 2013 - 4:00pm | John Eggerton

[Dave346]

Network Says Full Court Needs to Weigh in on Whether Economic Loss is Required for Finding

As expected, the Tennis Channel has filed a petition for full court (en banc) review by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit of a three-judge panel decision May 28 that Comcast did not violate the FCC's program carriage rules.

That panel concluded that the FCC and Tennis had failed to make the discrimination case against the cable operator.

In its petition, filed Friday july 15, Tennis Channel says that the ruling "departed from well-settled anti-discrimination law' and "ignored congressional intent and erroneously rejected extensive findings made by the FCC," Tennis Channel said in a statement. "Comcast’s programming business benefits from weakening the independent Tennis Channel’s ability to compete for programming and advertisers. This is exactly what Congress sought to prohibit when it adopted the Cable Act.”

Tennis said the judges, "[b]y requiring evidence that the defendant suffered an economic loss," had "departed from [the] Court’s prior anti-discrimination decisions, ignored congressional intent, and erroneously rejected extensive findings made by the Federal Communications Commission."

Tennis wants the full court to rule on whether proof of economic loss due to discrimination is required.

Comcast volleyed this statement: “A unanimous panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals emphatically rejected Tennis Channel’s complaint in a well-considered opinion. We continue to treat Tennis Channel fairly, making it available to those customers who want it in full accordance with our contract.”

[Dave346]

This case began in January 2010. Tennis Channel / Comcast dispute continues to work it's way through the courts.

[who_would_fardels_bear]

My crossword puzzle circuits have fused. Clues with the word 'court' in them could potentially refer to tennis or legal proceedings.

With this ruling those clues could refer to both simultaneously. I think I just heard two neurons collide and fuse together generating a pulse of pure energy!