The July 13 FCC agenda meeting may be delayed by last- minute neg...
The July 13 FCC agenda meeting may be delayed by last- minute negotiations on the $17 billion Adelphia deal, industry sources said. “The Commission has a substantial amount of control over when it has meetings, and if the chairman…
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believes he will be able to get a more reasoned and more thoughtful result by delaying the meeting a short amount of time, he will try to do that,” lawyer Michael Hazzard said. Snags include defining the circumstances under which Chmn. Martin’s order approving the deal would mandate arbitration between regional sports channels and cable rivals, said sources. Alternatives to rescheduling include a vote on a term sheet at the July 13 meeting, Hazzard said. In that scenario, 8th floor staff would work out details of the final Adelphia order after the meeting, he said. Some commissioners worry that the order would impose arbitration only where the market share of either Comcast or Time Warner, Adelphia’s suitors, would rise 5% or more, said a source. Another worry is that Comcast could withhold channels from RCN, including sports programming in Philadelphia and PBS Kids Sprout VoD content nationwide. RCN’s deal with Comcast to carry the sports networks expires later this year, sources said. A Comcast official didn’t respond to a request for comment. “Given Comcast and Time Warner’s nationwide market power, we hope the Commission will address this potential for anti-competitive behavior throughout their respective markets,” said RCN Senior Vp Richard Ramlall. He told us he fears the firms could exploit the terrestrial loophole to withhold PBS, sports and other content from RCN.