Verizon Calls FCC Ruling Victory for Sports Fans
January 20 2010 - 1:19PM
PR Newswire (US)
WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- The Federal Communications
Commission ruled on Wednesday (Jan. 20) that incumbent cable
television providers that control unique, regional sports
programming can no longer unilaterally refuse to provide access to
that programming, including high-definition feeds, to competing
providers. In a 4-1 decision, FCC commissioners concluded that
withholding regional sports programming presumptively violates
section 628 of the Cable Act and is anti-competitive. The order,
approved at Wednesday's open meeting, includes "standstill"
language barring cable companies from cutting off access to
programming during program renewal negotiations. Verizon, which
competes with Cablevision in the television market with its FiOS
TV, filed a program access complaint against Cablevision in July
because the cable incumbent continually denied Verizon access to
high-definition versions of regional sports programming Cablevision
controls in New York and parts of New Jersey and Connecticut. The
following statement should be attributed to Kathleen Grillo,
Verizon senior vice president of Federal Regulatory Affairs: "This
is a big-time victory for television sports fans. The FCC's
decision to make must-see regional sports programming, including
high-definition feeds, presumptively available to competitors, puts
viewers in the driver's seat. This ruling means that consumers will
no longer have to stick with their incumbent cable provider in
order to watch local teams in high definition." DATASOURCE: Verizon
CONTACT: David Fish, +1-202-515-2514, Company News On-Call:
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