Comcast takes FCC to court over ownership rule

0 Comments | Philadelphia Inquirer, The, March, 2008 | by Bob Fernandez Inquirer Staff Writer

Comcast Corp. is asking a federal appeals court to overturn a Federal Communications Commission rule enacted in December that bars it from making a major cable acquisition. The rule stops the cable company from owning more than 30 percent of the nation's pay-TV market. Comcast, the nation's No.

1 cable company, controlled about 27 percent of the market when the rule passed. The company's share of the pay-TV market has shrunk slightly, to 26.2 percent, partly because it has lost customers to competitors. Comcast filed an appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The Philadelphia company said in its March 12 filing that the order was "arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of discretion." "The record at the FCC provided absolutely no support for...