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FCC Poised to Act on Regional Sports Blackouts, Prices

Could the FCC soon have the ability to stop a large amount of regional sports network blackouts? Regional Sports Network (RSN) prices are out of control. Time Warner Cable wants every cable subscriber in Los Angeles to pay $3.84 in order to watch JUST the Los Angeles Dodgers. Regional networks with multiple teams games attached to them are just as expensive. CSN Bay Area demands $3.53 per subscriber, CSN Philadelphia wants $3.90 per subscriber and CSN Houston wanted $3.40 per subscriber before they landed into bankruptcy. The list goes on.

Now, the FCC is being tested about whether they can determine a decision in an baseball-type arbitration hearing between a pay television distributor and a regional sports network. Baseball arbitration means that if the parties can’t agree on terms for a license deal, they go to arbitration where each side presents their best offer and an arbitrator choose which closely approximates the fair market value of the deal.

Previously in mega-mergers, the FCC has required arbitration to make certain determinations such as News Corp.'s purchase of DirecTV, Liberty Media's purchase of DirecTV and Comcast's purchase of NBCUniversal.

As The Hollywood Reporter notes, in 2011, an arbitrator found that Armstrong's final offer was closer to "fair market" than DirectTV Sports Net Pittsburgh's own offer. The ruling was then affirmed in a 4-1 vote by the FCC Media Bureau.

Once DirecTV lost the appeal to the FCC, they challenged the FCC’s authority to act in this situation. The FCC noted in their appeal decision that they did have the authority to act due to the conditions imposed at the time of Liberty Media's acquisition of DirecTV.

Most recommended from 63 comments



fiosultimate
join:2014-06-09
San Antonio, TX

6 recommendations

fiosultimate

Member

sports?

Who cares?sports are stupid, go outside and get some excercise , the couch needs a break

tshirt
Premium Member
join:2004-07-11
Snohomish, WA

4 recommendations

tshirt

Premium Member

I don't believe...

...the FCC has the authority to control price negotiations for content.
This would be a better case if fielded by the FTC or AG/DOJ,
If anything force the cableco's to separate the total cost of the non public sports channels from BASIC tv so that local only SUBS pay NOTHING to the sports cabal that builds team wealth and income on the public dollar, but returns less and less to the host cities every year.
Let the sports nuts pay for THEIR own entertainment.

And I can say that coming from a city with the seahawks, superbowl winners (who I watch some) and the sounders, MLS leaders (who I watch some) the mariners (who stay above .500 most years and I see occasionally) seattle storm and other quality teams. but I can live without paying them one thin dime as long as long as people are homeless, and parks are unsafe, and schools are struggling, and people are starving.
Hellrazor
Bah Humbug
join:2002-02-02
Abyss, PA

3 recommendations

Hellrazor

Member

whatever

I am in the Philly area. Who can I bribe to permanently blackout the phillies and sixers?