Comcast continues to rally in FCC dispute with Tennis Channel

Cable giant Comcast Corp. appears to be headed for a tie-breaker in its long-running dispute with the small, independently owned Tennis Channel.

In December, a Federal Communications Commission administrative judge issued a tentative ruling that Comcast had discriminated against the Tennis Channel by putting it at a competitive disadvantage.

After winning that ruling, the Santa Monica network demanded that Comcast immediately add the channel to Comcast's most widely distributed programming package. The move, which Comcast has been resisting, would make Tennis Channel available to nearly all of Comcast's 22 million cable subscribers. 

But on Wednesday the FCC general counsel said that the full FCC would decide the matter and that Comcast was not required to move Tennis Channel at this time.

The dispute, which began nearly three years ago, centers on Comcast's refusal to move the Tennis Channel to a less exclusive environment.

The Philadelphia company has said it placed the Tennis Channel in the sports tier as part of an agreement between the two companies when Comcast agreed to provide carriage.  However, Comcast appeared to run afoul of the rules because it offers the sports channels that it owns, the Golf Channel and NBC Sports (formerly known as Versus), in the basic programming package.

The Tennis Channel has argued that its location unfairly limits its revenue potential because channels receive fees from cable operators based on number of subscribers. 

If Comcast loses the case, it would be the first time that a cable operator was found in violation of federal anti-discrimination program carriage rules, which were established by the agency in 1993. Comcast lost a similar dispute Wednesday, this one with Bloomberg. 

On Wednesday, the FCC General Counsel Austin C. Schlick said the full commission should settle the Tennis Channel score.  It was not clear when the commission would make the final call. 

"The interim stay granted by the Office of General Counsel regarding the Tennis Channel is a welcome development, and we hope the full commission will follow suit," Comcast said in a statement. "There were procedural and substantive flaws in the [administrative judge's] decision, and we continue to believe it should not be upheld."

For its part, the Tennis Channel said the interim stay didn't change the administrative judge's findings. Instead, it was "simply a continuation of the status quo while the commission decides the procedural question.... We are pleased that the commission continues to move forward in resolving this dispute." 

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Photo: Tennis Channel's Bill Macatee and Martina Navratilova, center, interview Ana Ivanovic. Credit: Fred Mullane 

FCC finds in favor of Bloomberg in fight with Comcast

The Federal Communications Commission has ruled in favor of Bloomberg Television in its bitter fight with Comcast Corp. over where its business channel was carried on the cable giant's systems.

In a ruling issued by the agency's Media Bureau late Wednesday afternoon, the FCC agreed with Bloomberg that Comcast is required to place the business network in the same neighborhood as other news channels, particularly those owned by Comcast, including CNBC and MSNBC.

"We agree with Bloomberg that the plain language of the condition suggests that the commission intended that the condition would apply to Comcast’s existing channel lineups," the FCC said. 

The commission went on to direct Comcast to put Bloomberg in the same neighborhood as other news channels in any top-35 market where such neighborhoods exist in the next two weeks.

The FCC defines a neighborhood as "a grouping containing four news or business news channels within a cluster of five adjacent channel positions." For example, if channels 20, 21, 22 and 24 are occupied by CNN, MSNBC, CNBC and Fox News, that would be a neighborhood even if channel 23 has a different format. 

Bloomberg had argued in complaints filed with the FCC that Comcast was playing favorites with its own channels at the expense of Bloomberg. This was a concern Bloomberg expressed when Comcast first announced its plans to acquire control of NBCUniversal, the entertainment company that owns MSNBC and CNBC.

Comcast argued that the FCC condition applied to any future news neighborhood, not the lineup of its channels before the deal with NBCUniversal closed. Comcast also accused Bloomberg of using the merger to try to get special treatment for its network. If Comcast did what Bloomberg wanted, the cable company said last year, "millions of customers will be subject to disruption and confusion required by massive channel realignments across the country, all to benefit an already-thriving, $30-billion media company."

In a statement, Comcast said it would appeal the Media Bureau ruling to the FCC chairman and the other commissioners.

"We respectfully disagree with the Media Bureau's interpretation of the 'neighborhooding' condition, which so clearly rewrites the history and any permissible underlying rationale for the condition," Comcast spokeswoman Sena Fitzmaurice said. "Since by definition, no 'discrimination' against Bloomberg in favor of CNBC could have taken place before the NBCUniversal transaction, any retrospective condition on this subject would have been arbitrary and capricious."

The neighborhooding condition only applies to news channels that compete with Comcast-owned networks, not other channels. The FCC said it did this “in accordance with the special importance of news programming to the public interest." However, an entertainment channel that competes with a Comcast network and is angry about where it is located on Comcast cable systems, can't complain to the FCC.

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Comcast in latest complaint says Bloomberg lied to FCC

Comcast Corp. has accused Bloomberg LP of lying to the government in the latest twist in the battle between the two media behemoths.

Last month, Bloomberg said in a filing with the Federal Communications Commission that Comcast was ignoring the conditions that the regulatory agency put on the cable giant as part of approving its acquisition of NBCUniversal. Comcast told the FCC on Tuesday that the charge was "demonstrably false."

The specific issue is where Bloomberg TV is placed on the cable dial in relation to Comcast's CNBC. Bloomberg has argued that as part of the FCC's approval of the deal, Comcast is required to put Bloomberg TV near CNBC and other news channels. Comcast has countered that it only has to do that if it were to start placing similar channels next to each other on the dial, a practice known in the industry as "neighborhooding."

In April, Bloomberg sent a letter to the FCC charging that Comcast in fact had created new neighborhoods for news channels on cable systems it owns in Crescent City, Fla., and Claxton, Ga., without moving Bloomberg TV. "Comcast is favoring its own programming content and discriminating against competitors," Bloomberg told the FCC.

On Tuesday, Comcast said neither of the accusations were accurate. In its response to Bloomberg, Comcast included a declaration from Michael Davies, an area vice president for the cable company's southeastern holdings. He denied Bloomberg's claims that between 2011 and 2012 it created a neighborhood of news channels that included Comcast's CNBC and MSNBC along with CNN and Fox News channels. Those channels, he said, had been together prior to the Comcast-NBCUniversal deal closing.

In Crescent City, Fla., Comcast said not only did it not create a news neighborhood, but that some of the channel's Bloomberg said were held by news networks were actually held by other entertainment channels.

"Bloomberg’s continued presentation of erroneous facts should further call into question the basis for its complaint," Comcast told the FCC.

In its response, Bloomberg said it had used Comcast’s own reporting of its channel positions to Tribune Media Services, which produces television listings and on-screen programming guides as the basis for its accusations.

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Bloomberg takes another FCC shot at Comcast

Bloomberg LP has filed another complaint with the Federal Communications Commission against Comcast Corp., claiming that the cable giant is thumbing its nose at conditions the government put on it as part of approving its 2011 takeover of NBCUniversal.

At issue is where Bloomberg's business news channel is located on Comcast-owned cable systems in relation to Comcast's own channels CNBC and MSNBC. Bloomberg has claimed that a condition of the merger requires Comcast to move Bloomberg to the same "neighborhood" as its own CNBC and MSNBC channels.

"We need a passport to get to the news neighborhood from where we are now," cracked Greg Babyak, head of government Affairs for Bloomberg LP.

Comcast has countered that the FCC's conditions only apply if Comcast were to start placing similar channels next to each other on the dial, a practice known as "neighborhooding."

In its latest FCC filing, Bloomberg claimed Comcast has done just that. It cited two markets -- Crescent City, Fla., and Claxton, Ga. -- where Comcast created a neighborhood of news channels but left out Bloomberg Television. 

"Comcast is favoring its own programming content and discriminating against competitors," Bloomberg attorneys told the FCC.

A spokeswoman for Comcast denied that the company has created any new news neighborhoods since the NBCUniversal transaction closed last year.

Bloomberg filed its first FCC complaint against Comcast last June, and the length of time it has taken the regulatory to respond is also becoming a sore spot. On a Tuesday conference call hosted by Bloomberg, Gigi Sohn, chief executive of non-profit advocacy group Public Knowledge and a supporter of Bloomberg's cause, ripped the agency for dragging its feet.

Sohn said it is "ridiculous" that the agency has yet to act on Bloomberg's first complaint. "It's time to do the hard work and actually enforce those conditions," she said, adding that the FCC's inaction is going to discourage others from coming forward to report possible abuses by companies such as Comcast.

In a statement, Comcast called Bloomberg's latest complaint "desperate."

"If Comcast is forced to do what Bloomberg wants the FCC to mandate, beyond the requirements of the FCC Order, millions of customers will be subject to disruption and confusion required by massive channel realignments across the country, all to benefit an already thriving, $30-billion media company. It is hard to imagine a more anti-consumer result that would be less in the public interest," Comcast said.

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Bloomberg jabs at Comcast on anniversary of NBC deal approval

Business media giant Bloomberg LP is marking the upcoming one-year anniversary of the government's approval of Comcast Corp.'s acquisition of NBCUniversal to remind regulators that it thinks the cable giant is disrespecting the feds.

Bloomberg, parent of business news channel Bloomberg Television, thinks that Comcast should be required to put the Bloomberg channel near its main competitor CNBC on its cable systems. Bloomberg has argued practically since the day Comcast announced its deal with NBCUniversal that it feared the cable giant would favor NBC's CNBC financial channel over Bloomberg on its systems, which reach more than 20 million consumers.

Last June, Bloomberg filed a complaint against Comcast at the Federal Communications Commission arguing that the conditions of the government's approval of the Comcast-NBCUniversal deal require Bloomberg to be moved closer so it can be in the same "neighborhood" as CNBC. The FCC is still reviewing the matter and no timetable is set for a ruling.

"Marking yesterday's one-year anniversary of the FCC's Order approving Comcast's blockbuster acquisition of NBC Universal, it's time for Comcast to live up to the bargain it accepted to secure its merger," said Greg Babyak, head of government affairs for Bloomberg LP. "Rather than continue to watch Comcast thumb its nose at the FCC and the American viewing public, the FCC should immediately require Comcast to stick to commitments, and implement the plain language of the order, including the news neighborhooding condition."

Comcast has countered that the FCC's conditions do not require it to move Bloomberg closer to CNBC.

"If Comcast were forced to do what Bloomberg is asking the government to mandate, millions of customers would be subject to disruption and confusion required by massive channel realignments to benefit a thriving $30 billion media company," a Comcast spokeswoman said. "The FCC carefully crafted its moderate, forward looking condition precisely to avoid this type of upheaval.”

And no, Comcast didn't thank Bloomberg for remembering the anniversary.

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Bloomberg TV says Tennis Channel win over Comcast boosts its case

The Tennis Channel isn't the only network popping champagne in the wake of a ruling by a Federal Communications Commission judge that cable giant Comcast Corp. discriminated against it in favor of its own sports channels.

Bloomberg, parent of cable business channel Bloomberg TV, thinks the FCC judge's decision regarding the small Tennis Channel will bolster its own fight against Comcast to be distributed similarly to CNBC, which is a unit of Comcast.

"Today's decision is further proof of what we already know, that Comcast abuses its dominant position against independent programmers like Bloomberg TV," said Greg Babyak, Bloomberg's government affairs chief.

The two cases are somewhat different. The Tennis Channel argued that Comcast gives favorable treatment to its own sports channels Versus and the Golf Network. Versus and Golf, Tennis Channel charged, got placed on more widely distributed packages of channels to Comcast subscribers. To get Tennis Channel, a subscriber had to buy a specialty tier of networks, whereas Golf and Versus were available to the bulk of Comcast subscribers. 

Bloomberg's argument has to do with where the channel is on the dial in comparison to CNBC. Bloomberg wants its channel packaged in a neighborhood with CNBC and other news channels. Bloomberg claims the government's approval of the merger between Comcast and NBCUniversal requires the cable operator to put Bloomberg near CNBC.

Comcast has countered that the merger requirements in no way forces it to move Bloomberg closer to CNBC with regard to channel position.

A Comcast spokeswoman declined to comment on Bloomberg's statement.

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Bloomberg TV's iPad app goes against the grain

A few weeks ago, business news conglomerate Bloomberg LP quietly launched a service that allows iPad owners to watch its Bloomberg TV cable channel live on the tablet device.

Though that is hardly an earth-shattering development — several cable networks have similar apps for tablet devices or make their channels available live online — Bloomberg is taking a radically different approach. Unlike other networks, which require that those who want to watch their programming already be subscribers to a multichannel video program distributor (that's industry-speak for a cable or satellite operator), Bloomberg makes no such requirement.

That move flies in the face of standard operating procedure in the media industry and likely won't win Bloomberg many friends among the big cable and satellite companies that carry the channel. That's because distributors don't like programmers who give their subscribers any incentive to cut the cord.

According to SNL Kagan, Bloomberg charges distributors a monthly license fee of seven cents per subscriber to carry the channel. That may not sound like much money, but Bloomberg is in 70 million homes so those pennies add up to millions of dollars.

Although Bloomberg TV is widely distributed, it is still at a ratings disadvantage compared with its chief rival CNBC. This move may win it some points with its core followers and with those who feel that any information made available online (including newspapers) should be free even if the same content is sold on other platforms such as television and print.

"Bloomberg TV is a global network — our Bloomberg TV+ app is part of our strategy to increase awareness of our product and drive viewers around the world to Bloomberg Television on cable and satellite," a Bloomberg spokeswoman said.

Bloomberg's decision to give its channel away on a potentially competing platform to cable and satellite also comes at a time when it is in an ugly fight at the Federal Communications Commission with Comcast, the nation's largest cable operator and owner of CNBC.

At issue is where Comcast places Bloomberg on its cable systems in relation to what channel CNBC is on. Bloomberg has argued that the conditions that the FCC put on Comcast in return for approval of its merger with NBCUniversal require the cable company to place its channel in the same neighborhood as CNBC.

Comcast has argued that is not the case and that if it did what Bloomberg wanted then "millions of customers will be subject to disruption and confusion required by massive channel realignments across the country, all to benefit an already-thriving, $30-billion media company."

The Bloomberg iPad app could become part of the debate with Comcast, which may argue to the FCC that a channel that is giving itself away to consumers with iPads certainly doesn't need special treatment from the government.

At the same time, Bloomberg might fire back that its struggles to get the same treatment business ratings champ CNBC gets from distributors has led it to give its service away.

— Joe Flint

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Photo: A screen grab of Bloomberg's iPad app. Credit: Bloomberg.

Bloomberg TV plays politics

This post has been corrected. See below for details.

Bloomberg TV is getting into politics.

The business news cable channel is hosting its first-ever presidential debate next week at Dartmouth College featuring the Republican candidates for the Oval Office including Rick Perry, Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann. The debate will focus primarily on the economy.

Bloomberg, which is presenting the Oct. 11 debate in partnership with the Washington Post, has been trying to make inroads against its main competitor CNBC for several years. In June, it hired former ABC News executive Andrew Morse in part to broaden its coverage and grow its audience.

Part of that strategy is beefing up Bloomberg's political coverage for the 2012 campaign. The network has hired former Sen. John Sununu and ABC's Matthew Dowd to serve as political analysts. Dowd still is employed by ABC as well.

Moderating the debate will be Charlie Rose, Washington Post political reporter Karen Tumulty and Bloomberg White House correspondent Julianna Goldman.

A strong performance from the debate may help Bloomberg bolster its efforts to get better carriage from cable and satellite broadcasters. Currently, Bloomberg is in about 70 million homes while CNBC is in around 100 million. Bloomberg is in a particularly nasty fight with CNBC parent Comcast Corp. over where it is carried in relation to the placement CNBC gets.

No word on whether that will be a topic of discussion for the candidates.

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For the Record: A previous version of this post incorrectly said John Sununu, former chief of staff for President George H.W. Bush was contributing political coverage for Bloomberg. In fact, it is Sununu's son John, a former New Hampshire senator who has joined Bloomberg.

Sen. Al Franken joins Bloomberg's fight against Comcast

Bloomberg LP has recruited Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) in its war against cable giant Comcast Corp.

Franken, who was very vocal about his concerns regarding Comcast's takeover of NBCUniversal when the deal was being reviewed by the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice, sent a letter to each pushing for prompt action in the Bloomberg-Comcast matter.

At issue is where Comcast places Bloomberg's business channel on its cable systems. Bloomberg argues that a condition of the FCC's order approving the Comcast-NBCUniversal deal requires the cable company to put the Bloomberg business channel near its competitors, especially NBCU's CNBC. In June, Bloomberg filed a complaint against Comcast with the FCC.

Comcast has countered that Bloomberg misunderstood the FCC order and told the agency last month that the business news conglomerate was trying to "extract preferential channel placement on Comcast’s cable systems through regulatory gamesmanship."

In a statement, Comcast said, "like Bloomberg, a $30 billion media company, Sen. Franken misinterprets the 'neighborhooding' condition in the FCC's Comcast NBCUniversal transaction Order."

The cable company has also argued that if it is "forced to do what Bloomberg wants ... millions of customers will be subject to disruption and confusion required by massive channel realignments across the country, all to benefit an already thriving, $30-billion media company. It is hard to imagine a more anti-consumer result that would be less in the public interest."

In his letter, Franken said he fears that "Comcast's alleged attempt to maneuver around the neighborhooding condition in the merger order is only the beginning of a series of lengthy and expensive battles over conditions, and I urge the Commission to act promptly if Comcast is in violation of this or any other conditions in its merger order.”

That Bloomberg has Franken in its corner comes as no surprise to those who followed the regulatory approval process of Comcast's deal with NBCUniversal. Franken was one of the harshest critics of the marriage, constantly warning about the market power the two companies would possess and the negative effect that would have on independent producers and programmers.

However, while Franken received lots of attention for his scrutiny of the deal, many of the requirements he sought to put on the companies were not among the final conditions for the approval of the merger.

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Comcast fires back at Bloomberg in channel placement fight

Comcast Corp. has fired back at Bloomberg, the business media conglomerate that last month asked the Federal Communications Commission to determine whether the cable giant has violating the conditions the federal government put on it in return for approving its takeover of NBCUniversal.

At issue is where Bloomberg's financial news channel Bloomberg TV is placed on Comcast cable systems. Bloomberg has argued that per the FCC's order signing off on the deal its channel needs to be near its rival CNBC, which Comcast acquired when it took control NBC Universal.

Bloomberg has accused Comcast of thumbing its nose at the FCC order.

Comcast said that is not the case and on Wednesday responded to Bloomberg's FCC complaint with its own filing at the regulatory agency.

“The complaint represents Bloomberg’s second attempt to extract preferential channel placement on Comcast’s cable systems through regulatory gamesmanship," Comcast said in its filing.

The two sides are debating in part over the definition of a neighborhood, which is when similar channels are placed next to each on a cable system. Bloomberg's complaint, Comcast claimed, is "based on an arbitrary and baseless definition of a news neighborhood as ‘four news channels within five positions.’ But that definition was neither supplied nor endorsed by the Commission. Instead, it is entirely Bloomberg’s invention."

In the FCC's January order approving the sale, the agency said: "Specifically, we require that if Comcast now or in the future carries news and/or business news channels in a neighborhood, defined as placing a significant number or percentage of news and/or business news channels substantially adjacent to one another in a system’s channel lineup, Comcast must carry all independent news and business news channels in that neighborhood."

However, a footnote in the same order added: "Our condition, however, would only take effect if Comcast-NBCU undertook to neighborhood its news or business news channels, which therefore would indicate that there was some value to neighborhooding despite additional search capabilities."

"The Commission adopted a 'narrowly tailored' condition" that does not apply to this case, Comcast asserted.

Comcast went on to note that moving Bloomberg closer to CNBC would lead to viewer confusion -- because other channels would have to be moved as well -- and create havoc on its current channel lineup and be very costly. “This could very well be an ongoing source of incessant and increasing disruption," Comcast noted.

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 This post was updated to clarify what Comcast meant by viewer confusion.