Watch CBS News

Feds Sue AT&T-DirecTV For Alleged Efforts To Block Dodgers Channel

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Federal prosecutors Wednesday announced a lawsuit against telecom giant AT&T for allegedly using its DirecTV unit to block a TV channel owned by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The U.S. Justice Department filed the lawsuit in federal court accusing DirecTV of mounting a campaign to convince AT&T - at the time a separate company from DirecTV - Charter Communications and Cox Communications not to carry SportsNet LA.

The Dodger-owned station is broadcast exclusively on Time Warner Cable.

"As the complaint explains, Dodgers fans were denied a fair competitive process when DirecTV orchestrated a series of information exchanges with direct competitors that ultimately made consumers less likely to be able to watch their hometown team," Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Sallet of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division said in a statement. "Competition, not collusion, best serves consumers and that is especially true when, as with pay-television providers, consumers have only a handful of choices in the marketplace."

In response to the suit, AT&T attorney David McAtee issued the following statement: "We respect the DOJ's important role in protecting consumers, but in this case, which occurred before AT&T's acquisition of DIRECTV, we see the facts differently. 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.

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

Dodgers President Stan Kasten called the allegations "shocking but not surprising."

"We hope today's action leads to all Dodger fans finally being able to view all Dodger games everywhere in the market," said Kasten.

Dodger fans for years have been frustrated as talks between Time Warner and other carriers have stalled - frustration that prosecutors say was the result of DirecTV's campaign of collusion aimed at improving the companies' bargaining leverage with Time Warner over the cost of carrying the channel.

(©2016 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.