FCC might impose restrictions on sale of Adelphia

FCC MIGHT IMPOSE RESTRICTIONS ON SALE OF ADELPHIA
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Paul Davidson]
Regulators appear set to impose conditions on the proposed sale of Adelphia Communications to Comcast and Time Warner to ensure that the cable operators provide their sports programming to satellite TV rivals at reasonable prices. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin's proposal to clear the $17.6 billion sale of the troubled cable operator with conditions was delivered to the agency's four commissioners late last week. The proposal could restrain Comcast's and Time Warner's power to dominate new markets after they carve up Adelphia, and it could force them to cut their charges to satellite companies for sports programming. The cable operators propose to split Adelphia's 5.2 million subscribers and swap some systems to consolidate markets. Chairman Martin's proposal would force the two cable giants to enter binding arbitration if they could not agree with pay-TV operators on the prices for showing big-league sports to audiences in the teams' home regions. In Chicago, DirecTV has said it pays Comcast's sports network exorbitant fees to carry the games of the Chicago Bulls, Blackhawks, Cubs and White Sox. Martin also is recommending the companies be barred from withholding their regional sports networks from other pay-TV distributors. But nothing would change in the only place Comcast now does that -- Philadelphia. Comcast owns the sports network that shows the Phillies, Flyers and 76ers games, but it has refused to license broadcast rights to DirecTV and EchoStar. It could continue doing so under Martin's proposal.
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/money/20060626/1b_hedgefunds26.art.htm