With Martin’s Aid, The America Channel Beats Comcast

WITH MARTIN'S AID, THE AMERICA CHANNEL BEATS COMCAST
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
Dealing Comcast its second setback in as many days, the Federal Communications Commission ruled Tuesday night that The America Channel (TAC) qualifies to enter arbitration to gain distribution from the largest U.S. cable company. The ruling wasn't a surprise after news reports surfaced in August said that FCC chairman Kevin Martin was backing fledgling TAC over pay-TV distribution giant Comcast. TAC, a program network that has yet to launch, has been feuding with Comcast for several years. The network gained key leverage when the FCC said in June 2006 that regional sports networks were entitled to seek arbitration to obtain carriage from Comcast and Time Warner. At the time of the ruling, TAC was not an RSN. It claims it became one not long after the FCC ruling, which came in connection with Comcast and Time Warner’s joint acquisition of bankrupt Adelphia Communications. Comcast asked the FCC to reject TAC’s corporate makeover as an opportunistic move to game the Adelphia merger conditions. The FCC determined that TAC was a sports network because it had programming deals with 14 NCAA Division I conferences to air 500 games of football, basketball, soccer and volleyball. TAC was regional, the FCC said, because it would offer a separate broadcasts in six geographic regions that include 20 individual TV markets.
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