Update June 2009: Verizon has argued that the D.C. Circuit’s rationale in upholding the ban on exclusivity deals with apartment owners should be extended to prohibit cable exclusives on regional sports programing channels.
In 2007, the FCC adopted a rule banning cable companies from entering exclusive contracts with apartment building owners and forbidding the enforcement of existing contracts prospectively. The cable companies challenged the rule as outside the scope of FCC statutory authority. The D.C. Circuit held that the ban addressed the sort of competitive limits that Congress intended to prevent in enacting Section 628(b) of the Communications Act.