Tennis Channel takes another legal swing at Comcast

The Tennis Channel wants back on the court.

The cable network has petitioned the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in an effort to reverse a May ruling by three of the judges there regarding a dispute with Comcast Corp.

In that ruling, the court said the Tennis Channel had not proved that Comcast Corp., the nation’s largest cable operator, had discriminated against it by not offering the network to all its subscribers as it does for sports networks it owns, including the Golf Channel.

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The court’s ruling reversed a finding by the Federal Communications Commission that said Comcast was harming the Tennis Channel by favoring its own networks.

“As stated in the petition filed by the network today, the ruling departed from well-settled anti-discrimination law, ignored congressional intent and erroneously rejected extensive findings made by the Federal Communications Commission,� the Tennis Channel said in a statement.

After the court made its ruling, Tennis Channel Chief Executive Ken Solomon questioned the integrity of the judges in a memo he sent to the network’s staff that described the judicial panel as a “Mad Hatter of a court.�

“Even Ray Charles could see the shameful way they [Comcast] treat those they do not own,� Solomon wrote.

A Comcast spokeswoman said: “A unanimous panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals emphatically rejected Tennis Channel’s complaint in a well-considered opinion. We continue to treat Tennis Channel fairly, making it available to those customers who want it in full accordance with our contract.�
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