Comcast Cable Communications, LLC v. Federal Communications Commission
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
717 F.3d 982 (2013)
Tennis Channel complained to the FCC that Comcast (defendant) placed Tennis Channel on a higher-priced cable tier while placing its own affiliated Golf Channel and Versus on a lower, more widely distributed tier. An administrative law judge and the FCC both ruled for Tennis Channel under the Communications Act's ban on discriminating against unaffiliated channels in a way that unreasonably restrains fair competition, and Comcast petitioned for review, arguing that carrying Tennis Channel on the cheaper tier would actually cost Comcast money rather than generate revenue.
Whether a multichannel video programming distributor can treat an unaffiliated programming network differently than an affiliated network if the disparate treatment is based on a reasonable business purpose.