
How to find the right golf channel
- August 25, 2021
Golf Channel hosts will be among the people in the US to be hit with a $5.4 billion antitrust suit filed Monday against the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) by the National Golf Association (NGA).
The lawsuit seeks to block the FCC’s decision to impose new limits on the use of digital content in TV and other media, and to stop it from imposing new limits to broadcast TV in other markets.
The suit, filed in Federal District Court in New York, seeks to stop the FCC from imposing “new and unprecedented restrictions on the sale and distribution of live programming by broadcasters and other video content providers,” as well as “all other proposed, unenforceable, and future regulations, including regulations that require broadcasters to charge consumers for live video, including on their mobile devices and digital platforms.”
The suit also seeks to prevent the FCC “from requiring all broadcast and cable broadcasters to sell their content to consumers, to impose any new fee requirements or other measures that would impose additional burdens on the broadcasters’ ability to provide live programming,” and “from mandating new or additional advertising or promotional terms and conditions on broadcast television and related services, including through any rules adopted by the Commission.”
The complaint also asks for a preliminary injunction to prevent further “substantive or discriminatory” regulation of broadcast and other broadcast and related video content, including by the FCC, as well “any regulatory measures that require new or increased taxes on broadcasters’ broadcast services or impose new or greater costs on broadcasters” or any other measures “imposed in furtherance of any proposed, unilateral, or unlawful purpose.”
It adds that the suit “is intended to prevent and deter such regulatory actions, including but not limited to those that could impose costs on the NGA and other entities, or that could create additional barriers to the sale of their content.”
According to the suit, “the NGA is concerned that any proposed and unenforced regulations could create barriers to its ability to sell its content and the future success of its business.”
The NGA filed the suit in the same week that the FCC voted to lift the caps on digital television services.
The NGA argues that it should be able to sell the digital services, and it would be allowed to “offer digital services through any of its affiliates or other content providers that are owned and controlled by the NAGA, which includes affiliates and other content distributors.”
In addition to the NGSAs content, the suit seeks injunctive relief “against any person, firm, or entity that seeks to circumvent the Commission’s decision, and for injunctions to restrain any other person or entity from doing the same.”
“The NGSAS has filed suit in this case to prevent these burdens on its content,” said NGA President and CEO Matt Tavenner.
“It is a win-win for all the stakeholders in the broadcast and digital media industries.”
The lawsuit is one of several filed by the media and entertainment industry in the past week as the FCC continues its work on revising its rules.
The rules are expected to be released in the coming months.
The FCC’s chairman, Ajit Pai, has said he is “committed to finding a way forward” on the new rules, which will allow for the sale, distribution and pricing of TV and digital video content through cable and satellite providers.
The commission has previously said it is working on rules that would not require broadcasters and content distributors to pay for video content.