A US rule that could help bring Knicks basketball, Phillies baseball and other sports to more television viewers withstood a challenge from Cablevision Systems Corp. in a court decision issued yesterday.
The US Court of Appeals in Washington said the Federal Communications Commission acted within its rights in a January 2010 ruling that aimed to make coverage of sports teams more widely available. Withholding sports programming can place competitors at a “serious disadvantage,” the judges said in a 3-0 ruling.
Comcast Corp., based in Philadelphia, withholds its SportsNet coverage of professional teams in that city from DirecTV and Dish.
AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. have complained to the FCC of not being able to buy access to sports programming controlled by Long Island-based Cablevision.
The FCC last year decided companies such as DirecTV, AT&T and Verizon are harmed when they’re unable to get access to cable-owned sports shows. The judges yesterday placed one restriction on the rule, saying the FCC can’t simply assume harm without looking at a particular complaint.
Yesterday’s ruling “means that the FCC has been substantially affirmed,” said Andrew Jay Schwartzman, policy director of Media Access Project, a public policy law firm. “In a particular case, they’re going to have to show that the withholding of the programming was unfair rather than assuming it’s unfair.”
Disputes have flared between cable companies, which own regional sports networks that control coverage rights, and telephone companies that increasingly offer TV service.