The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C....
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit’s decision against the FCC and Tennis Channel’s program carriage case against Comcast “is as final as a federal court ruling can be” and “forecloses further litigation of the case,” said Comcast…
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in an opposition filing to Tennis Channel’s petition for further proceedings (CD March 12 p24). Though the case was denied both an en banc rehearing in appeals court and a berth on the Supreme Court docket, Tennis Channel wants the FCC to set up a new briefing cycle for the matter based on narrow issues the D.C. Circuit said were lacking from the original case. Tennis Channel and the FCC didn’t present evidence to the D.C. Circuit to show that programming Tennis Channel on a broader tier would have benefited Comcast, the D.C. Circuit said. The new proceedings would focus on that evidence and provide a basis for the FCC to reaffirm its original decision in Tennis Channel’s favor, Tennis Channel has said. “The petition is a transparent attempt to defy the D.C. Circuit’s mandate by reaffirming the very ruling that the court already found devoid of evidentiary support,” Comcast said. The FCC can’t reopen the proceedings because it has to follow the court’s decision, Comcast said. “The court’s mandate is not a suggestion,” Comcast said. Allowing Tennis Channel to reopen the case “would be palpably inequitable,” Comcast said. “The commission lacks authority to conduct further proceedings focused on an issue the D.C. Circuit has already, definitively decided."