Reuters: Regulatory News: Comcast seeks court reversal of FCC Tennis Channel ruling

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Comcast seeks court reversal of FCC Tennis Channel ruling Aug 2nd 2012, 00:15 Wed Aug 1, 2012 8:15pm EDT Aug 1 (Reuters) - Comcast Corp said it had asked a federal appeals court to reverse a ruling of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that could make the cable company distribute the Tennis Channel to more subscribers and result in millions of dollars in costs. The FCC last month upheld an administrative law judge's ruling that Comcast discriminated against the Tennis Channel when it placed the network in a more expensive viewing tier than Comcast's affiliated sports networks. In its filing on Wednesday Comcast called the decision "arbitrary" and "capricious" and said that it violated its constitutional rights. Comcast was ordered to pay a $375,000 fine and by adding the network to an additional 18 million households it would incur millions of dollars more in programming costs that it will owe the Tennis Channel - an expense likely to trickle down to Comcast subscribers. The ruling is the first time a cable network has prevailed over a cable operator under the FCC's 1993 federal anti-discrimination program carriage rules. The Tennis Channel filed a complaint with the FCC in 2010, alleging discriminatory treatment. It sought wider distribution on par with other networks, which would attract more advertising revenue and increase fees calculated on a per-subscriber basis that Comcast paid to air its content. Comcast contended that its 2005 contract with the network stipulated placement in a more expensive sports tier sought by fewer subscribers, and said a move would impose higher costs on its basic cable subscribers.

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