DirecTV Seeks News Corp./Hughes-Like Conditions on Adelphia Merger
If the FCC approves the Adelphia transaction involving Comcast and Time Warner Cable, those firms both should come under the same strict conditions the agency put on News Corp. and Hughes, DirecTV said in an ex parte filing Fri. An order on the $17 billion deal began circulating last week (CD June 26 p1). DirecTV wants the Commission to bar Comcast and Time Warner from having an exclusive carriage agreement with any regional sports network (RSN), it said. The Commission is expected to conclude the matter mid-July (CD June 22 p12).
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DirecTV also sought rules governing RSNs the cable firms own or partially own allowing DBS providers and overbuilders to force Time Warner and Comcast into binding arbitration if carriage terms can’t be reached via negotiation. DirecTV parent News Corp. owns more than a dozen RSNs. The fear is that to boost their own subscriber numbers, Comcast and Time Warner could use their market share to withhold popular RSN programming from pay-TV competitors, DirecTV said. Press reports Mon. indicated the order circulating includes similar conditions.
“The Transactions promise serious anticompetitive effects through the use of market power and RSN programming,” DirecTV said. Even if Comcast and Time Warner don’t withhold programming, they can price RSNs so high competitors can’t afford them, DirecTV said.
Comcast and Adelphia and Time Warner spoke last week to FCC staff and Commissioners about RSNs. Richard Wiley called Catherine Bohigian, chief of the FCC’s Office of Strategic Planning & Policy Analysis, to summarize Comcast’s position on RSN’s, filings show. Michael Meece spoke with Chmn. Martin on the same topic on Comcast’s behalf. Lawyers representing all 3 cable operators met with Comr. Tate’s senior policy advisor as well as Bohigian.