FCC Releases Adelphia Deal

FCC RELEASES ADELPHIA DEAL
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Late Friday, the FCC released the approved order for Comcast and Time Warner's purchase of Adelphia. The FCC will use a single arbitrator to settle program carriage disputes involving regional sports networks either owned by Comcast or Time Warner or seeking carriage on their systems. But that decision can then be appealed to the FCC. Saying the merger of Adelphia into Comcast and Time Warner created the potential for controlling access or inflating the price to regional sports, the FCC made protecting access to the hometown team's games a key condition of approving the merger. It defined regional sports nets as must-have programming, for which there is not reasonable substitute, and access to which is crucial to competing multichannel video providers like satellite and telcos. It made an exception in Philadelphia, however, grandfathering Comcast's decision not to make its regional sports network there available to the satellite competition, using an access exception to landline-delivered sports networks. The arbitration provision sunsets after six years.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6355569.html?display=Breaking...

* See the FCC order: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-06-105A1.pdf

* Consumer Group: Comcast Ate Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania consumer coalition Consumers First! is concerned about the fact that Comcast acquired the last cable franchise in Philadelphia that it didn't already own. Comcast secured the franchise as part of its deal with Time Warner to divvy up Adelphia Communications’ franchises.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6355442.html?display=Breaking+News