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February 26, 2013
Southern District of New York
There is a new Antitrust complaint in SDNY Cablevision Systems
Corp. and CSC Holdings, LLC Vs. Viacom International Inc.
and Black Entertainment Television LLC, 13cv01278.
Currently the complaint is SEALED. View the Cover Sheet
Here.
The cause of action listed is Per se tying and block booking
violations of 15 U.S.C. §1 and violations of N.Y. Gen. Bus.
Law §340.
Cablevision alleges illegally forcing
Cablevision to carry and pay for 14 lesser-watched ancillary
networks its customers do not want, such as Palladia, MTV Hits and
VH1 Classic, in order to carry must-have networks such as
Nickelodeon, MTV and Comedy Central.
Cablevision's suit
contends that:
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Viacom abused its market power over
commercially critical networks,
including must-have networks such as Nickelodeon, Comedy
Central, and MTV,
to coerce Cablevision
into carrying the 14 far less popular ancillary
channels.
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Viacom coerced Cablevision by
threatening to impose massive financial
penalties unless Cablevision complied with Viacom's demands.
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Viacom's conduct harms Cablevision and
its customers, and impairs competition by making Cablevision
pay for and carry networks that many subscribers do not want
to watch, while other networks are excluded from distribution,
preventing Cablevision from being able to differentiate its
services and harming subscribers.
Cablevision's complaint asserts that
Viacom engaged in a "per se" illegal
tying arrangement in
violation of the federal antitrust laws. Cablevision's
antitrust lawsuit also asserts that Viacom has engaged in unlawful
"block
booking," which is a form of tying that conditions the
sale of a package of
rights on the purchaser's taking of other
rights. Viacom's conduct also
violates the Donnelly Act
in New York State Law, which parallels federal
anti-trust
laws.
Cablevision is seeking a number of remedies
including:
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Declaratory relief voiding the
December 2012 carriage agreement.
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A permanent injunction barring Viacom
from conditioning carriage of any or
all
of its core networks on Cablevision's licensing any or all of
Viacom's
ancillary networks.
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To effectuate the permanent relief, a
requirement that Viacom permit
Cablevision to carry the core networks and ancillary products
on terms
pending negotiation of a new,
lawful agreement
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Treble damages and legal fees.
Cablevision officials indicated that there
would be no immediate disruption in
programming offerings
pending the resolution of this matter.
We are Committed to Remain the
Best!
Thank you,
Yael Martin
CourtAlert
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