DOJ Sues DirecTV Over MLB Dodgers Negotiations

(Reuters) -- The U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against DIRECTV alleging the company acted as a ringleader to unlawfully swap information between it and three competitors regarding negotiations aimed at showing Dodgers baseball games in the Los Angeles area.

The department said DirecTV exchanged information with rivals Cox Communications, Charter Communications (CHTR.O) and AT&T, which now owns DIRECTV, to win bargaining leverage and to reduce the risk they would lose customers if they decided not to carry the pricey cable station.

Much of Los Angeles was unable to watch the Dodgers play for the past three seasons, the Justice Department said.

AT&T said the information trades occurred before it acquired DIRECTV last year, and said it disagreed with the department's action.

"The reason why no other major TV provider chose to carry this content was that no one wanted to force all of their customers to pay the inflated prices that Time Warner Cable was demanding for a channel devoted solely to LA Dodgers baseball," said David McAtee, AT&T general counsel, in a statement.

"We make our carriage decisions independently, legally and only after thorough negotiations with the content owner. We look forward to presenting these facts in court," McAtee said.