No Immediate Resolution in FCC Case
An administrative law judge at the Federal Communications Commission pushed back a 60-day timeframe for a ruling in the dispute between the NFL Network and Comcast.
That deadline had been set last month by the FCC's media bureau.
An order by the judge, Arthur Steinberg, also left open the question of whether Comcast discriminated against the NFL Network. Steinberg said a preliminary ruling last month by the media bureau--that the NFL Network had established a prima facie basis for two of its claims against Comcast in a complaint filed with the FCC in May--is not binding and he will examine the issue himself in a hearing.
The judge's rulings virtually guarantee that there will be no immediate resolution to the dispute between the league-owned NFL Network and Comcast over pricing and distribution of the channel. But even before the rulings, the parties hadn't seemed to expect an immediate resolution.
The NFL has been at odds with Comcast and other large cable companies over the league's contention that each of the companies should put the NFL Network on a digital basic cable package. The companies have contended that the channel belongs on a sports tier so that only those cable customers who want it have to pay for it.
The NFL issued a written statement that said: "NFL Network is pleased that the Administrative Law Judge has rejected Comcast's attempts to delay this proceeding through a needless appeal to the full Commission--an appeal that sought to challenge the clear legal standards that support the NFL Network's complaint. We're particularly glad to note that the ALJ's order did not accept Comcast's position that it was exempt from the statutory prohibition against discrimination because of its contract with the NFL Network. We will now turn to proving our case in the ALJ factual hearing, and will do our utmost to help the ALJ complete the hearing expeditiously, as he has promised to do."
A Comcast spokesperson declined to comment.
By
Mark Maske
|
November 20, 2008; 3:54 PM ET
| Category:
League
,
Television
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