Having had no luck resolving the Washington Nationals’ broadcasting dispute from a legislative angle, three area members of Congress have asked the Federal Communications Commission to jump into the fray.
U.S. Reps. Tom Davis, R-Va., Jim Moran, D-Va., and Albert Wynn, D-Md., are calling on the FCC to force Comcast and Baltimore Orioles’ owner Peter Angelos into binding arbitration. Comcast has refused to carry Angelos’ Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN), which owns the rights to Nationals’ games, denying 1.3 million area subscribers the ability to watch their home team play ball.
In their letter, the legislators suggested using Comcast’s proposed merger with Adelphia cable as a way in. They asked FCC Chairman Kevin Martin to condition the merger’s approval on the willingness of the two sides to arbitrate their disagreements.
“This would address both the concern of lack of televised exposure of the Nationals from a fan’s perspective, and the concern of the significant expenditure of public funds by the District of Columbia in the hope that a successful team will spur urban revitalization efforts in the Nations’ Capital,” the Congressmen wrote.
The House Appropriations Committee last week inserted language into a budget bill strongly urging the FCC to act on a complaint filed a year ago by MASN, which asks the government to force Comcast to air the games.
Davis, chairman of the Government Reform Committee, held a hearing on the dispute in April. Comcast representatives and Angelos agreed then to continue their talks, so far to no avail.
“Unlike the Orioles, Comcast has always supported the return of major league baseball to Washington and we have proposed multiple solutions to resolve this issue,” Comcast Executive Vice President David L. Cohen said in a statement. “We continue to seek a resolution that protects our customers and Nationals fans to get the Nationals games on TV as quickly as possible.”
In a news release, Todd Webster, MASN spokesman, said “it’s time for Comcast to end its blackout of Nationals games.”
Where to find MASN
Local cable and satellite providers carrying MASN
» Cox
» DirecTV
» Verizon FIOS
» RCN Cable
» Charter Communications
