Cox Will License Padres Channel to Rivals

[mdonnelly]

In a reversal of policy, Cox is going to offer a licensing agreement to the Cox 4 Padres channel to rival companies such as Dish, Direct and AT&T. Apparently they don't intend to fight the FCC ruling in January that requires them to offer access.

...Opening the games to rivals reverses Cox’s longtime stand that it wasn’t required to share Channel 4 with direct competitors. Cox created Channel 4 in 1997 to broadcast Padres games, investing $100 million over the years in the station, which now carries 147 games a season. Cox has licensed games to Time Warner Cable only, which is not a direct competitor.

But the Federal Communications Commission forced Cox’s hand in January when it changed regulations that allowed cable companies to keep exclusive rights to local sports programming under certain circumstances.

The change also affected Comcast in Philadelphia and Cablevision in New York, which have similar exclusive deals for local sports programming.

Cablevision has filed notice of its intention to challenge the FCC in federal appeals court. Cox, by negotiating licenses for Channel 4 now, is choosing not to mount a legal fight. ...

Cox makes play to license Padres games to rivals - SignOnSanDiego.com