Federal court upholds FCC access rules for cable programming that Comcast, Cablevision opposed

Court OKs TV rules opposed by Comcast, Cablevision

WASHINGTON — A federal court Friday upheld regulations that require cable TV companies to make sports programming and other channels they own available on equal terms to rival TV providers such as satellite companies.

The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia leaves in place the Federal Communications Commission “program access” rules, which are intended to ensure that cable companies cannot withhold highly desirable programming that they own from competitors.

The rules require Comcast Corp., for instance, to make channels that it owns — including E! Entertainment, Versus and the Golf Channel — available to rivals such as DirecTV Inc., Dish Network Corp., AT&T Inc.’s U-Verse video service and Verizon’s FiOS video service.

The decision was a setback for Cablevision Systems Corp. and Comcast, which were challenging the FCC’s decision to extend a ban on exclusive programming contracts for five years.

Comcast has nonetheless pledged to extend the program access rules to the local NBC and Telemundo stations it would control as part of its proposed combination with NBC Universal. Comcast is seeking FCC and Justice Department approval to buy a 51 percent stake in NBC Universal from General Electric Co.

Comcast said it was disappointed in Friday’s ruling.

“The program access rules are based on an outdated and obsolete view of the competitive landscape,” Cablevision said in a statement.

DirecTV and Verizon hailed the ruling as a win for consumers.

“This decision protects consumers’ ability to view the programs they demand as they gain new choices among video providers,” Verizon said in a statement. The phone company has spent billions on its new FiOS fiber-optic network to deliver video and high-speed Internet services.

The circuit court decision comes amid growing concern in Washington about the rules governing access to both broadcast programming and channels owned by cable companies.

On Sunday, after talks broke down between ABC and Cablevision over the fees the cable company would pay to air the network, the ABC station in New York pulled its signal from Cablevision, causing subscribers to miss the first 15 minutes of the Oscars. A coalition of cable, satellite and phone companies seized on the incident to ask the FCC to prohibit broadcasters from interrupting signals during negotiations or before popular events, and to mandate binding arbitration.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski told lawmakers at a hearing Thursday that the FCC would review whether existing federal regulations still make sense.

Friday’s ruling is the second key victory for cable rivals in as many months when it comes to program access rules.

In January, the FCC voted to close to the so-called “terrestrial loophole,” which lets cable companies get around program access rules by distributing programming over landlines rather than satellite connections.

Comcast, Cablevision and Cox Communications Inc. have relied on the loophole to deny sports programming to competitors such as DirecTV, Dish, AT&T and Verizon.

Genachowski praised Friday’s ruling. “The commission’s program access rules have played a vital role in making diverse and attractive video programming available to cable and satellite TV viewers,” he said in a statement.