Comcast, MASN Set to Discuss Possible Carriage Settlement
Comcast and the network that carries Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals baseball games are scheduled to meet Tuesday, to try to settle a program-carriage complaint by the network (CD July 20 p11), said commission documents and a spokesman for the sports network. In an order that the commission released late Thursday, Richard Sippel, who’s the FCC’s chief administrative law judge and is handling the case, called the news that executives, lawyers and experts from the companies will meet to discuss a settlement “an excellent development.” He heard testimony in Mid-Atlantic Sports Network v. Comcast in May.
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“MASN and Comcast are urged to settle and to file a joint motion to dismiss this proceeding as soon as practicable,” Sippel wrote. MASN “does state a genuine concern that Comcast considers the parties to be ‘far apart’ on settlement,” he said. But “MASN sees the settlement picture much more optimistically and, hopefully, MASN will prove to be correct on that score.”
MASN proposed May 29 that Comcast carry the channel in the several markets where the complaint seeks distribution, an MASN spokesman said. It’s carried in the Washington area, but MASN contends that it’s entitled to wider carriage. The May offer was made for Harrisburg, Pa., and, in Virginia, Lynchburg, Roanoke and the Tri-Cities of Bristol, Galax and Pulaski, the spokesman said. MASN contends that Comcast favors its own regional sports networks in those cities -- part of the Nationals and Orioles TV markets but outside the Washington market -- over the independent programmer. Comcast has said it decides whether to carry channels on their merits, not based on ownership.
The Enforcement Bureau recommended Friday steps that Sippel should ask the full commission to take in the case, industry officials said. A bureau official handling the case didn’t reply to a message seeking comment. On Thursday, Sippel denied MASN’s request to order the bureau make its recommendations 10 days after the July 31 deadline. Comcast opposed the request. “To help concretize the whimsy in MASN’s Motion,” Sippel required responses from the channel and the bureau, which didn’t object to a delay, he added. The channel’s concern is that the bureau’s comments could hurt negotiators by questioning the credibility of witnesses who may take part in carriage talks, Sippel wrote. That “is without merit since it is the Presiding Judge who will make findings on credibility, if credibility is called into question,” he said.
Comcast said in a filing last Monday said it opposed delaying the bureau’s comments, because a settlement isn’t a sure thing. More time “would be warranted only where the parties have reached an agreement in principle and need additional time to finalize the terms of a settlement, as occurred in the context of the NFL Proceeding,” the cable operator said. Before Sippel could rule on a program carriage complaint against Comcast by the National Football League, the league and the cable operator reached a deal (CD May 20 p2). “Here, the parties are continuing settlement negotiations,” the company said, “but Comcast has no reason to believe that the discussions have reached a state where delay would support the parties’ settlement efforts.”
“We're optimistic that we could get a deal done if Comcast acts reasonably,” the MASN spokesman said. A Comcast spokeswoman declined to comment. “MASN has signaled a willingness to negotiate and to this point Comcast has not responded” by making a counter-offer, the network official added. “We have been trying for two months … but we are hopeful that we can get a deal negotiated on Tuesday.”