In AT&T Services Inc. et al. v. Madison Square Garden LP and Cablevision Systems Corp., in a 56-page complaint AT&T Inc. has asked the FCC to prohibit Cablevision Systems Corp.’s from denying AT&T access to its high-definition programming for two of its Connecticut regional sports networks. AT&T obtained the standard versions of these networks after filing a program access complaint with the FCC against Cablevision, however, after the agreement closed, the companies agreed to handle the HD issues separately. According to the latest AT&T complaint, Cablevision continues to withhold the HD version of the networks because “such programming is terrestrially delivered and thus outside the scope of the FCC’s program access rules.” To counter this argument, AT&T based its complaint on FCC rules created in October 2007, and upheld by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, banning apartment building owners from striking exclusive deals with cable providers. In its complaint, AT&T claims that because Connecticut is so close to New York and only has one professional sports team, the New York-based sports programming provided by the networks is in high demand in Connecticut.
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