Media Bureau Rejects BeIN Carriage Complaint Against Comcast
The FCC Media Bureau rejected a 2018 beIN Sports carriage complaint against Comcast. In its docket 18-384 opinion and order Tuesday, the bureau said beIN and Comcast-affiliated Universo aren't similarly situated so beIN's discrimination argument regarding it fails. It said…
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Comcast-affiliated NBC Sports Network is similarly situated and beIN was treated differently from NBCSN, but Comcast didn't discriminate on the basis of that affiliation. BeIN said it's disappointed but "pleased with the acknowledgement [it's] a similarly situated network to that of NBC Sports and that Comcast discriminated against us by treating us differently than other affiliated networks." It said the bureau "agreed that Comcast’s differential treatment ... has the effect of unreasonably restraining us from competing fairly in the market." It said it's "reviewing all of our options concerning this ruling and will continue our efforts to fight Comcast’s discriminatory tactics." The bureau dismissed a similar beIN carriage complaint in March (see 1903290054).