WASHINGTON (AP) - The Federal Communications Commission has dismissed a complaint filed against Comcast by beIN Sports, which was dropped this week by the cable systems of Comcast Xfinity and Verizon Fios.
In a complaint filed in May, beIN accused Comcast Cable Communications of violations of the Communications Act of 1934, FCC rules, the FCC order approving Comcast’s purchase of NBCUniversal and conditions set by the FCC for the purchase. NBC has U.S. television English and Spanish broadcast rights to England’s Premier League. BeIN Sports has televised Spain’s La Liga in the U.S. since the 2012-13 season.
The FCC says in its decision Friday that “beIN Sports has failed to provide evidence sufficient to support its claim that the programming it would provide under the renewal agreement is similarly situated to the video programming provided by Comcast’s affiliated vendors, NBCSN and Universo.”
BeIN said Tuesday that Verizon sought to shift it to a more expensive tier, and Verizon said BeIN sought a fees increase.
Comcast said BeIN would not guarantee what programming it will have going forward. BeIN has carried Italy’s Serie A since 2012-13 but that deal expired and a new U.S. rights holder has not been announced.
Fox has rights to the German Bundesliga. Turner takes over rights to the Champions League this season from Fox, which had televised Europe’s top club competition since 2009-10.
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