In letters to the Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department, Big3 Basketball LLC alleged that Charter’s conduct is depressing prices in the auction and suggested the situation could benefit Charter’s largest shareholder, Liberty Media Corp., which is also a bidder.
Big3 said it has engaged in negotiations with Charter over the price the cable company would pay to carry the sports networks should Big3 be the winning bidder. Big3 said the discussions broke down and it now fears the channels will lose carriage.
“Charter’s conduct risks effectively excluding Big3 from the bidding process and tainting the auction,” the company told the FCC. “It has been suggested to Big3’s ownership that Charter has disseminated its threat to drop the (regional sports networks) to other members of the industry, thereby suppressing auction prices, chilling bidding, and ultimately hurting Disney’s ability to secure the best price for the (channels),” the letter said.
In a statement, Charter said it “welcomes the opportunity to discuss a future carriage agreement for these networks with whomever ultimately owns them including Big3. Regardless of who owns the programming, we approach all negotiations with the same singular objective of reaching carriage agreements that best meet the needs of our customers.”
Meanwhile, two congressmen want Major League Baseball to produce documents by April 25 tied to its attempt to purchase control of 21 regional sports networks.
The Associated Press reports the two Democrats are Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, chairman of the House oversight and reform committee, and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois, chairman of the subcommittee on economic and consumer policy.
They wrote to baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred on Thursday, saying they are wary of “anticompetitive conduct.” They asked for documents on potential acquisition and operation of the regional networks plus MLB’s strategies. They also want MLB officials to brief committee staff.
The Walt Disney Co. acquired 22 regional sports networks as part of its $71 billion purchase of 21st Century Fox’s entertainment business last month. The Justice Department said last June that Disney had to sell the networks as a condition of the deal. The Yankees’ YES Network is being sold separately by Disney.
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