Kamis, 17 November 2016

Justice Department sues AT&T-DirecTV, alleges collusion in blocking Dodgers channel - Chicago Tribune

For three seasons, thousands of frustrated Los Angeles Dodgers[1] fans have missed Clayton Kershaw[2]'s brilliant pitches. They also never got to watch Vin Scully's emotional final season and a dominant march to the playoffs.  

Now, the U.S. Department of Justice say s that baseball fans were shut out because of unfair play by DirecTV, which allegedly colluded with rival pay-TV companies in an effort to make sure that Dodgers games were not widely available in Los Angeles.

In an extraordinary legal move Wednesday , the Justice Department filed a 57-page lawsuit in federal court in Los Angeles, accusing DirecTV, which is now owned by AT&T, of conspiring with Cox Communications[3]Charter Communications[4] and AT&T to refuse to carry the chann el, SportsNet LA.

The lawsuit alleges that the four companies engaged in illegal conduct, sharing nonpublic information among themselves to gain leverage in negotiations with Time Warner Cable, which was responsible for recruiting other pay-TV companies to carry the sports channel. 

Although the Justice Department stopped short of requiring that AT&T/DirecTV begin carrying the sports channel, the lawsuit could pave the way for a settlement that could bring the Dodgers into an additional 1 million DirecTV households in Southern California.

"Dodgers fans were denied a fair competitive process when DirecTV orchestrated a series of information exchanges with direct competitors that ultimately made consumers less likely to be able to watch their hometown team," Deputy Assistant Atty. Gen. Jonathan Sallet of the Justice Department's antitrust division said in a statement.  "Competition, not collusion, best serves consumers and that is especially true when, as with pay-television providers, consumers have only a handful of choices in the marketplace."

The Dodgers called the allegations "shocking but not surprising."

"We hope today's action leads to all Dodger fans finally being able to view all Dodger games everywhe re in the market," Stan Kasten, president and CEO of the Dodgers, said in a statement.  

Fans welcomed the move, which they hope will prompt more pay-TV companies to pick up the channel by  next spring. Isaac Espinoza, 24, said he has had to rely on sports apps to get play-by-play news.  As a result, he said he didn't get a chance to fully appreciate Scully's last year as a Dodger broadcaster. 

"That changes everything," Espinoza said of the lawsuit. "Hopefully we get to see the games next season."

For AT&T, which acquired DirecTV last year, the lawsuit comes at an awkward time. The Dallas-based phone company just unveiled an $85.4-billion deal to buy media and entertainment giant Time Warner Inc.[5], which is separate from Time Warner Cable. AT&T will need Justice Department approval for the proposed merger.   

Although the lawsuit is unrelated to a review of that massive deal, it underscores the government's increasing scrutiny of the pay-TV industry. Many critics already believe the pay-TV industry already is too consolidated, controlled by a handful of powerful players, including AT&T.

Charter Communications, which now owns Time Warner Cable, declined to comment. 

A Cox spokesman said the company was "gratified that we were not named as a defendant.… We continue to be committed to making independent decisions on program content."

Matt Wood, policy director of Free Press, a digital-rights group, said the Dodgers channel antitrust suit "shows the danger of concentrating too much media power in too few hands."

"AT&T and DirecTV had too much power over the pay-TV, Internet and content markets even before their ... merger closed last year," he said. "Now that they've joined forces, the absolute last thing we need is approval of a deal to put these bad actors in control of Time Warner's video content empire."

Fans, too, said the lawsuit sheds light on the behind-the-scenes maneuvering and why no agreements were being reached.

"I always felt that something had to be going on because the demand for the product was always there," said Brandon Knudsen, 31, of Los Angeles, who described himself as a lifelong fan. "For all of these companies to flat out refuse to come to the negotiating table for a crown jewel of Major League Baseball didn't make any sense. The deck was stacked against Time Warner Cable from the get-go."

Staff writers Ruben Vives in Los Angeles and Jim Puzzanghera in Washington contributed to this report.

meg.james@latimes.com[6]

@MegJamesLAT[7]

ALSO

Fed doesn't change interest rates, but hints it probably will soon[8]

The 'saga is over': Gawker settles with Hulk Hogan for $31 million[9]

Wells Fargo will pay $50 million to settle allegations it overcharged homeowners for appraisals[10]


UPDATES:

4:55 p.m.: This articl e was updated with comments from the Dodgers and fans of the team.

12:10 p.m.: This article was updated to include information from the lawsuit and commentary from critics of AT&T's proposed acquisition of Time Warner Inc.

This story was first published at 9:26 a.m.

References

  1. ^ Los Angeles Dodgers (www.chicagotribune.com)
  2. ^ Clayton Kershaw (www.chicagotribune.com)
  3. ^ Cox Enterprises (www.chicagotribune.com)
  4. ^ Charter Communications (www.chicagotribune.com)
  5. ^ Time Warner Inc. (www.chicagotribune.com)
  6. ^ meg.james@latimes.com (www.chicagotribune.com)
  7. ^ @MegJamesLAT (twitter.com)
  8. ^ Fed doesn't change interest rates, but hints it probably will soon (www.latimes.com)
  9. ^ The 'saga is over': Gawker settles with Hulk Hogan for $31 million (www.latimes.com)
  10. ^ Wells Fargo will pay $50 million to settle allegations it overcharged homeowners for appraisals (www.latimes.com)

Tidak ada komentar:

Posting Komentar