Sports fans may be ecstatic about the newest FCC ruling regarding sports programming. Cable TV companies such as Comcast can no longer use a loophole from a cable law in 1992 to deny satellite providers access to premium sports channels.
That loophole has kept Flyers, Sixers and Phillies games off Dish and Direct TV.
"Consumers who want to switch video providers shouldn't have to give up their favorite team," said FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski in a statement Wednesday.
The law in 1992 basically says that cable providers must let competitors use any channel that the cable company owns if they use satellites to send the signals to individuals.
However, most cable companies use landlines to transmit their programming so satellite providers are out of luck.
“The FCC's order today eliminating the terrestrial loophole is a big win for consumers and fair competition in the marketplace,” DirectTV's statement said.
The move is "bad news" for Comcast, according to a report in Business Week magazine, because it means the FCC will be "looking for bigger concessions" as it considers the Comcast-NBC Universal deal.
Some analysts say Comcast could sue to block the changes and others are predicting that you may see new programming options for watching your favorite teams by the summer.
