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DAVID CONNELL
C-SPAN will become the first cable industry player to wade into the satellite TV industry's lawsuit against the government's must-carry rules.
C-SPAN CEO Brian Lamb says the network will file an amicus brief in favor of the Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Associations arguments that must-carry should not be applied to DBS operators such as DirecTV and EchoStar Communications.
Industry observers were aware C-SPAN was considering filing a brief for some time, but C-SPAN had avoided making comments on the issue until last week.
"We're going to file this brief on principle," Lamb said. "This town (Washington, D.C.), this Congress, has created a second-class citizenry. We are constantly being put behind broadcasters, whether they produce public interest programming or not. Broadcasters have argued in favor of must-carry for economic gain, not the free-flow of information."
Lamb adds that must-carry rules have not hurt C-SPAN from an economic standpoint but have prevented it from getting sister networks C-SPAN 2 and other services onto cable systems.
"C-SPAN 3, 4 and 5 have been dead in the water since must-carry was imposed on cable systems," he says.
Lamb says the network has yet to file the brief in Virginia federal court.
A spokesman for the SBCA says they had not been in contact with C-SPAN regarding the case but welcomed news of its potential involvement.
The National Cable Television Association (NCTA) has not indicated whether it intends to become involved in the satelite TV industry's case. Some at the NCTA are split on whether or not to file on behalf of the SBCA.
Meanwhile, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and Association of Local Television Stations (ALTV) will have to wait until this week to see if a judge will allow the groups to intervene in the suit.
If the broadcasters are successful in their petition, they will be added as co-defendants in the case, potentially resulting in a lengthy trial with months of discovery.
A federal judge in Alexandria, Va., heard arguments from the broadcasting groups and lawyers representing the satellite TV industry on the issue Nov. 6 and said he would rule on the NAB-ALTV motion within 10 days.
Andrew McBride, who is representing the satellite TV industry in the case, says the judge did not tip his hand as to which way he was leaning.
McBride argues that the NAB and the ALTV represent competing interests in the case and therefore should not represent broadcasting interests.
"Our main argument was that ALTV and the NAB were a house divided," he said. "They are not a proper party to represent broadcasters."
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