Pay-television broadcaster beIN Sports has resumed its battle with US telco Comcast by calling on the Federal Communications Commission to review an earlier decision on the carriage dispute between the two parties.
BeIN suffered a fresh blow in the US last month after the FCC dismissed the broadcaster’s latest carriage complaint against Comcast/Xfinity. It was the third time that the FCC ruled against the Qatar-based network in its ongoing dispute with Comcast.
Comcast dropped the channel in August 2018, when its carriage deal expired and it refused to pay the rights fee sought by beIN.
BeIN has argued that Comcast violated provisions in place when the FCC gave the green light to Comcast’s acquisition of media company NBCUniversal. However, the FCC’s media bureau on July 1 ruled that Comcast had “legitimate business reasons” for dropping beIN.
The Associated Press news agency reported that beIN has now elected to return its claim to the FCC, accusing the bureau of making an “unprecedented departure” and acting “solely based on Comcast’s say-so”.