By Shalini Ramachandran
A federal judge vacated the Federal Communications Commission's
request that major TV programmers make their contracts available to
third parties for comment, lifting a hurdle that has delayed
regulatory review of AT&T Inc.'s acquisition of DirecTV.
The case pitted major media companies against the FCC as it was
reviewing AT&T's deal for DirecTV and the now-dead merger of
Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Cable Inc. The FCC argued that third
parties should be granted the ability to review the TV channel
owners' contracts with the pay TV providers and submit comment for
the record. Media companies expressed concerns about competitors
gaining access to their valuable trade secrets and worried the
FCC's order gave them little opportunity to object to which parties
would be granted access.
"We share petitioners' apprehension about a process that puts
tremendous pressure on the commission, the parties, and this court
to get their ducks in a row in a short time," the court said in its
decision. "In our view, the commission has failed to make its
case."
AT&T's proposed acquisition of DirecTV has raised fewer
concerns at the FCC and Justice Department than the ill-fated
Comcast-TWC merger, The Wall Street Journal has reported. The FCC's
informal 180-day "shot clock" for reviewing the AT&T-DirecTV
merger has been on pause since mid-March, pending a court decision
on the FCC's request for contract information.
Had the FCC gotten its way, the review might have taken even
longer, people familiar with the agency's process said, because the
agency may have had to extend another period for third parties to
review the TV programmers' contracts.
Write to Shalini Ramachandran at
shalini.ramachandran@wsj.com
Access Investor Kit for AT&T, Inc.
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US00206R1023
Access Investor Kit for Comcast Corp.
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US20030N1019
Access Investor Kit for Comcast Corp.
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US20030N2009
Access Investor Kit for DIRECTV
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US25490A3095
Access Investor Kit for Time Warner Cable, Inc.
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US88732J2078
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires