Lawmakers Wants FCC To Intervene In Dodger's Blackout

Eight So.Cal Congressional representatives have signed a letter asking the Federal Communications Commission to mediate the ongoing dispute over the Dodgers’ television network SportsNet LA, according to L-A Daily News.

Time Warner Cable, which owns the distribution rights to the channel, has not brokered agreements with most major local providers, including DirecTV, AT&T U-verse, Cox, Verizon FiOS, Charter, Comcast and Dish Network. As a result, approximately 70 percent of Southern Californians haven’t been able to watch the Dodgers unless their games are broadcast by national networks ESPN and Fox.

The letter, authored by U.S. Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-San Fernando Valley), reads: “The tradition of the Los Angeles Dodgers accompanied by the iconic voice of Vin Scully remains a pastime that families across Los Angeles eagerly anticipate every baseball season. Unfortunately, we are at the midpoint in the season and thousands of baseball fans remain in the dark.”

To this point in the dispute -- 105 games into baseball’s regular season -- the federal government has refrained from intervening. But Cárdenas, who said he grew up listening to Fernando Valenzuela pitch for the Dodgers in both English and Spanish, said he considers this a “serious business issue.”

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