US pay-television provider Comcast has requested a stay of the decision by the country’s media regulator, the Federal Communications Commission, that it discriminated against pay-television broadcaster Tennis Channel.
Last Tuesday, the regulator upheld an administrative law judge’s December ruling that Tennis Channel must be moved from Comcast’s digital sports tier to the basic tier, which is more widely available and already carries the Comcast-owned pay-television channels Golf Channel and NBC Sports Network.
The FCC ordered Comcast to comply with the ruling within 45 days, but the pay-television provider has asked the regulator to stay its decision while it takes its case to the US federal appeals court.
Comcast, in a petition filing to the FCC, said that the ruling “imposes a wholly unprecedented burden on Comcast and its customers based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the controlling statute, the first amendment, and the evidentiary record.”
Comcast added: “The order impermissibly permits Tennis Channel to rewrite its carriage contract years after the fact and to secure preferential treatment from Comcast under the guise of avoiding discrimination.”
Comcast asked the FCC to rule on its petition by August 7.