Supreme Court Opts Not to Review Tennis Channel's Appeal Of Pro-Comcast Ruling

The US Supreme Court has nixed Tennis Channel’s appeal that sought equal distribution footing as two sports networks owned by Comcast, but the dedicated racquet service said it still has some strokes to play.

Without issuing comment, the justices left intact a federal appeals court ruling in May that determined that Comcast made a legitimate business decision to offer the Tennis Channel on a sports tier. In its long-running court battle with Comcast, Tennis has charged that the cable giant engaged in a discriminatory practice that violated provisions of the 1992 Cable Act. The Federal Communications Commission and an administrative law judge sided with Tennis Channel, ruling that Comcast should give the channel the same placement as Golf Channel and Versus -- now known as the national cable sports service NBCSN -- both of which are part of NBC Sports Group’s portfolio.