July 05, 2006 05:49 PM ET House Members Want Comcast Dispute Ended Associated Press
http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.asp?feed=AP&Date=20060705&ID=5845634 WASHINGTON (AP) - Three Washington-area House members asked the Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday to make Comcast Corp.'s proposed purchase of Adelphia Communications Corp. contingent on Comcast entering binding arbitration to settle a dispute with Mid-Atlantic Sports Network over the airing of Washington Nationals baseball games. The proposal by Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis, R-Va., James Moran, D-Va., and Albert Wynn, D-Md., is the latest effort by federal and local officials to resolve a dispute that prevents 1.3 million Nationals fans from seeing most games on TV. Comcast, the region's largest cable provider, has refused to carry MASN, which controls the rights to most Nationals games, because of a dispute with Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos over television rights to Orioles games and control of the region's sports programming market. Major League Baseball helped Angelos create MASN as compensation for having a competing franchise 35 miles from its home market. Angelos plans to move Orioles telecasts to the network next season after their deal with Comcast SportsNet expires. Comcast believes its contract was improperly terminated. Time Warner Inc. and Comcast are seeking to acquire the assets of bankrupt Adelphia in a deal estimated to be worth $17 billion. FCC spokesman David Fiske said the commission does not comment on pending matters. A spokesman for Davis was not available for comment Wednesday. Comcast closed down 43 cents at $32.32 on the New York Stock Exchange. Time Warner was off 13 cents $17.13. ================================ George Antunes, Political Science Dept University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204 Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927 antunes at uh dot edu Reply with a "Thank you" if you liked this post. _____________________________ MEDIANEWS mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
