The Federal Communications Commission, the United States media regulator, has ordered pay-television provider Comcast to place pay-television broadcaster Tennis Channel on its digital basic tier.
The commission, upholding an administrative law judge’s December ruling, said that Tennis Channel must be shifted 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.
“We conclude that Tennis Channel has demonstrated that Comcast discriminated against Tennis Channel and in favour of Golf Channel and Versus [now known as NBC Sports Network] on the basis of affiliation, and that this discrimination unreasonably restrained Tennis Channel’s ability to compete,” the commission said.
The commission denied Comcast’s request for a review of the December decision by chief administrative law judge Richard Sippel, who also imposed a penalty of $375,000 (€307,000) against Comcast.
The New York Times newspaper said that the ruling meant Comcast would have to pay Tennis Channel “millions of dollars more each year for its programming,” in terms of carriage fees.
The commission gave Comcast 45 days to comply with the ruling, but the pay-television provider will appeal the decision to the federal courts, according to the Bloomberg news agency.
“The finding of a violation here is inconsistent with the evidence, which shows that all major distributors recognise that Tennis Channel does not merit the same carriage as Golf Channel and NBC Sports Network,” Kyle McSlarrow, president of Comcast/NBCUniversal Washington affairs, said. “The decision will accomplish nothing other than to drive up programming costs and enrich a group of wealthy investors in Tennis Channel. Comcast has carried the Tennis Channel for more than seven years under a contract Tennis Channel freely negotiated, which this government action would now override.”
Tennis Channel is part-owned by an investor group that includes Apollo Partners, Bain Capital, Battery Ventures, CCMP Capital Advisors and Columbia Capital. US tennis governing body the USTA, and other individual investors, also have stakes.
Tennis Channel said: “The commission’s decision constitutes a persuasive rejection of each argument Comcast has sought to make over the past several years to justify its discriminatory treatment of Tennis Channel. Now that the commission has definitively ruled, we invite Comcast to work with us to ensure Tennis Channel, Golf Channel and NBC Sports Network are equally available to Comcast viewers. While our network will benefit greatly from the broader carriage, ultimately it is the consumer who has won today.”