When large cable companies play chicken with content providers, history tells us customers lose. Cablevision and WABC-TV in New York were at a stalemate over the weekend and it took one of the biggest TV events of the year, the Oscars, to push the envelope to get the deal done, but not without some damage.

TV viewers in New York City found themselves unable to watch the beginning of the Oscars as content was cut off from Cablevision subscribers as of midnight Saturday night because they were playing hardball with the Disney-owned affiliate.

The standoff was not unlike what Sen. John Kerry feared would threaten sports fans’ ability to watch the BCS Bowl Games on TV in the recent News Corp./Time Warner Cable dust up. Luckily, it didn’t come to that, and we were able to watch our inequitable BCS Bowls without issue.

The real question here is ‘How long are we going to put up with this?’ Cablevision has no problem holding sports fans hostage with the MSG Network providing games exclusively to their subscribers despite the FCC mandate which pronounced this activity illegal.

Cablevision, with the support of Comcast, has also tied up the FCC’s decision in court while it continues to keep High Definition sports broadcasts from reaching millions of fans who happen to use an alternate provider.

To many, this is not a surprise. These companies used cut-throat tactics to get where they are today. So, they’ll keep on taking advantage of consumers until they get caught red-handed.

Well, it’s time for New Yorkers to speak up and share their story.  Start a Local Chapter of the SFC to take the power back in the big apple. Let’s push Cablevision and their cronies to treat consumers fairly.  SFC will continue to ask: WHERE ARE MY GAMES?

Despite the FCC’s ruling that no local sports exclusives should exist providing both standard and HD sports to competitors of cable and, in turn, fans who subscribe to alternate providers, Cablevision, Comcast, and Cox (to name the big players) haven’t moved a muscle to straighten up their act.  Rather, they’ve taken the FCC to court appealing the decision – making false promises to U.S. Representatives- continuing to abuse sports fans across the country by withholding access to games.

Below is a note from one of our intelligent members about the seemingly endless struggle to supply fans with their sports on TV:

The on-going story of Cablevision holding back its High Definition sports channel MSG-HD from some providers (Verizon) while giving it to others (Time Warner) still seems to be dragging in the courts.

Despite the ruling by the FCC on January 20, 2010,  stating that “incumbent cable television providers that control unique, regional sports programming can no longer unilaterally refuse to provide access to that programming, including high-definition feeds, to competing providers.”, it seems that the ruling means very little until the appeal process runs its course. 

Unfortunately, it seems there is little that can be done to speed this process up – after all, it’s been going on for years now.  Perhaps the FCC should enforce the new ruling NOW.  Let the appeal process proceed – perhaps it will move faster when Cablevision isn’t dragging their feet.  Should the ruling be overturned (unlikely), then and only then can Cablevision refuse to provide its HD feed. 

An alternate interim solution might be to prevent Cablevision from providing their HD content to anybody else (including other cable providers like Time Warner).  This would then force these other cable providers to join the battle against Cablevision.

SFC loves the educated suggestions. Let’s start this process by signing the petition stating that the FCC should enforce their rule immediately. Letting Cablevision get away with this white collar crime is unacceptable. Let the FCC know you want your games, and you want them now!

In the span of 24 hours, SFC board member Brad Blakeman represented sports fans in Oregon and across the country by going on the radio, speaking to TV and newspaper reporters, and most importantly, by testifying in the Oregon General Assembly hearing targeting the Portland Trail Blazers’ deal with Comcast which shuts out so many fans from the team’s broadcasts.

Watch the video of Brad’s testimony:

Comcast promised to provide competitors access to games so that the areas where Comcast is not available in Oregon, fans would still be able to watch their games.  Furthermore, the FCC has ruled that it is not lawful to maintain local sports exclusives.  In other words, even where Comcast is available, they need to share the games with competitors so consumers have the choice of carriers.  Almost 3 years ago, this deal was struck, the promise was made, and the fans are still left out in the cold without access to their Blazers games.

The media recognizes that the activist state that is Oregon will not settle for this mistreatment.  Blakeman’s testimony was mentioned in Willamette Week Online, The Oregonian, KPTV, The Oregon Politico, and BlazersEdge.com.  His interviews on The Lars Larson Show and on The Game 95.5 helped spread the word to current and future members of the new Local Chapter SFC-Portland.

SFC has built the avenue to channel the frustration of so many Blazers fans who are signing the petition asking the state legislature, ‘Where Are My Blazers Games?‘  Sports Fans in Oregon are taking action deciding to JOIN THE COALITION, to become a fan of SFC Portland on Facebook, and to follow the local chapter on Twitter.

We need to keep the pressure on Comcast, the team, and the state representatives to make this right.  We Want Our Games!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Wednesday, February 24^th, 2010

State of Oregon Seeks Remedy to Trail Blazers TV Contract

SFC Testifies Against Comcast in Oregon General Assembly

SFC Launches First Local Chapter in Portland, Oregon

Washington, D.C. — At the request of the Oregon State Legislature, Sports Fans Coalition sends board member Brad Blakeman to testify in the Oregon State House Committee on Consumer Protection and Government Accountability concerning Comcast’s egregious practice of shutting out Portland Trail Blazers fans from the ability to watch their home games on TV. While Comcast seeks permission to merge with NBC Universal, Blakeman asks, ‘Why can’t Trail Blazers fans in Oregon ask to see their home games first?’

At the outset of the ten-year contract struck between Comcast and the Portland Trail Blazers, Comcast promised Oregon sports fans that they would eventually get to view their home games regardless of who provided their TV.  “Almost three years after the Comcast/Blazers deal,” Blakeman notes, “only Comcast cable subscribers and a few subscribers to small cable systems can watch every game the Blazers play at home.”

To more adequately address the issues that face sports fans in Oregon, Sports Fans Coalition launches the first Local Chapter today based in Portland.  The Chair of SFC Portland, Sarah Moon, shares the experience of many Trail Blazers fans with friends and family currently shut out of Blazers’ broadcasts much to their discontent.  SFC Portland will serve as a home for sports fans to share their frustrations and as a voice for the local community seeking to organize consumers to speak up and demand results from government and industry.

If a media giant like Comcast acts in such a way as to provoke an entire state of sports fans today with such disingenuous behavior, it is evident that preconditions should be applied to the company’s bid to acquire NBC Universal before real consideration is given to approval of the merger.  “Oregon sports fans,” Blakeman continues, “you deserve better.”

The Sports Fans Coalition’s agenda advocates that sports fans should be able to watch their local teams play, regardless of how fans get their games.  There should be no local sports exclusives.  Now that the FCC has voted in favor of the sports fan, the Sports Fans Coalition will be acutely focused on the execution of the ruling in Oregon as well as in every state across the country.

On February 19^th, Sports Fans Coalition joined a group of twelve industry associations, labor organizations, and public interest groups in creating and sending a letter urging Comcast President and CEO Brian Roberts to drop litigation seeking to overturn the FCC’s decision to ensure that programming owned by cable operators is shared with competing cable and satellite TV providers so that sports fans are not left out in the cold asking ‘Where are my games?’

Read the letter here.

Sign the petition here.

View the SFC Portland page here.

Become a fan of SFC Portland on Facebook.

Follow SFC Portland on Twitter.

Start an SFC Local Chapter in your town.

Here is the full text of the letter:

Mr. Brian L. Roberts

Chairman and CEO

Comcast Corporation

1 Comcast Center

Philadelphia, PA 19103

February 19, 2010

Dear Mr. Roberts:

The undersigned groups submit this letter in response to your statements in recent congressional hearings on Comcast’s proposed merger with NBC Universal. We take this opportunity to voice concerns regarding Comcast’s commitment to abiding by the Federal Communications Commission’s program access rules.

In litigation pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of  Columbia Circuit, Comcast seeks to eliminate a key component of the program access regime: the ban on exclusive contracts between a cable operator and a satellite-delivered cable programming network in which a cable operator has an ownership interest. In light of Comcast’s participation in this litigation, Sen. Al Franken questioned you on the subject of Comcast’s commitment to abiding by the rules. In response to further questioning during the hearing, you promised that Comcast would adhere to FCC program access rules even if the court declares them to be invalid.

We share Senator Franken’s concerns regarding your pledge. Your assurances are undercut by the fact that your company has a history of opposing the program access rules and is currently trying to dismantle critical parts of the program access regime.

Moreover, it is highly unusual that Comcast would continue to spend  shareholder dollars to overturn an FCC regulation that it has promised to follow regardless of the case’s outcome. The fact that Comcast has not withdrawn from the litigation raises questions about whether your company will follow through on this commitment.

Respectfully,

American Cable Association

Communications Workers of America

Consumer Federation of America

Consumers Union

Free Press

Media Access Project

National Telecommunications Cooperative Association

Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small

Telecommunications Companies

Public Knowledge

Rural Independent Competitive Alliance

Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association

Sports Fans Coalition

What was Sen. Franken so mad about? Watch some of the back-and-forth here, and Matthew Lasar provides some excellent play-by-play on Sen. Franken’s line of questioning during the Senate Subcommittee Hearing here:

“I worked for years for NBC,” noted former Saturday Night Live cast member and now Senator Al Franken (D-MN) in his opening remarks. “I really feel I owe a lot to NBC, but what I know from my previous career has given me reason to be concerned… very concerned” about the merger.

Franken recalled that back in the 1980s, the television networks urged the FCC to drop its Financial Interest and Syndication (FYN-SYN) rules, which barred networks from owning all but a small chunk of the programming that they aired—which the agency did. The senator recalled that, at the time, NBC executives promised that relaxing FYN-SYN would not lead the network to favor its own content.

“But by 1992 NBC was the single largest supplier of its own primetime programming,” Franken continued. “Today, if an independent producer wants to get its own show on NBC’s schedule, on any network’s schedule, it is routine practice, and you guys know it, for the network to demand at least part ownership of the show… And that’s just a fact. So while I commend NBCU and Comcast for making voluntary commitments as part of this merger, you’ll have to excuse me if I don’t trust these promises.”

Later on in the hearing, Franken disclosed that Comcast’s Roberts had met with him days earlier, claiming that the FCC’s program carriage rules would protect consumers. “You said that those rules will make sure that you always have a wide variety of programs because they forbid you [NBC] from discriminating against other company’s programs.”

With that, Franken pointed to a large sign board behind him with a quote from Comcast in its recent battle with the NFL Network over which tier on Comcast would carry the sports channel. 

“The Commission is simply not equipped or constitutionally empowered to make an independent assessment of the myriad, complex, and dynamic considerations that affect carriage, tiering, and pricing decisions,” said the quote from Comcast attorneys. “Thus the First Amendment requires that the Commission exercise extreme caution before interfering with any carriage decision.“

“In other words,” Franken continued irately, “looking to get approval for this merger, you sat there in my office and told me to my face that these rules would protect consumers but your lawyers had just finished arguing in front of the Commission that it would be unconstitutional to apply these rules.”

Roberts looked a little offended by Franken’s comments. “When we met, perhaps I was confused. I thought that we were talking about program access, now you are talking about program carriage,” he explained—the latter category deals with where programs will appear on a cable distribution system after they have been granted access.

“Whether it’s program access or program carriage, did you not say that this rule protects the people of Minnesota?” Franken declared, then asked NBC’s Zucker about those FYN-SYN questions. “I think my characterization was pretty accurate, don’t you?”

Zucker paused. “It’s a long time ago and I think there’s a lot of factors that went into back then…”

“C’mon,” Franken interrupted. “You guys said: ‘We’re in the business of ratings! Why would we favor our own programming’?”

“I can tell you what’s happening today,” Zucker pressed on. “NBC has just ordered 20 pilots for new shows…”