Programmers, Distributors Muster Appeal to Latest A La Carte Ruling

Attorneys for programming providers and distributors will appeal a US District Court decision that will let consumers challenge, on antitrust grounds, the practice of selling video programming in bundles rather than on a channel-by-channel basis. The companies have filed an appeal to ruling made July 7 in Los Angeles by Judge Christina Snyder. The December 2007 suit was filed on behalf of consumers in four states and aspires to be a class action on behalf of all cable and direct-broadcast satellite subscribers. The suit alleges that consumers overpay for entertainment programming because the programmers and distributors "conspire" to sell programming in bundles, forcing consumers to pay for channels they don't want. The suit also asserts that independent programmers are foreclosed from carriage.