Comcast’s arguments for why a court should stay the FCC’s...
Comcast’s arguments for why a court should stay the FCC’s Tennis Channel carriage order rely on “snippets of the record” and ignore the bases for the agency’s decision, the channel said. In an opposition to Comcast’s stay request at the…
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U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, Tennis Channel argued the court should deny that request. Comcast will probably lose its broader appeal of the case therefore should not be granted a stay, the network said. Distributing the Tennis Channel under the terms of the FCC order wouldn’t hurt Comcast, the channel said. “Comcast was directed by the Commission nearly three months ago to be ready to comply immediately upon the release of the final decision,” it said. “Comcast has mandated and implemented nationwide tiering changes for its affiliated networks on very short time frames. On this record, Comcast has no legitimate claim of irreparable harm.” The FCC also urged the court to deny Comcast’s stay request. “Comcast represented to the Commission over six months ago,” that it was planning to comply with the order, the commission said in its brief. “Nonetheless, it now complains that it will face various administrative burdens,” it said. “These are hardly extraordinary burdens for a cable operator (much less the largest cable operator in the Nation); they are part of the day-to-day activities of its business."