Sippel

If either agency needs more inspiration, it should look no farther than the FCC's administrative law judge, Richard Sippel, who wrote a scathing opinion giving Tennis Channel a significant boost over Comcast.

Art Brodsky: Yes, Virginia, Consumers Won A Couple in Washington Art Brodsky 2011

Sippel's opinion is a great example of what the "paper hearings" composed of comments and replies are missing.

Art Brodsky: Yes, Virginia, Consumers Won A Couple in Washington Art Brodsky 2011

If either agency needs more inspiration, it should look no farther than the FCC's administrative law judge, Richard Sippel, who wrote a scathing opinion giving Tennis Channel a significant boost over Comcast.

Art Brodsky: Yes, Virginia, Consumers Won A Couple in Washington Art Brodsky 2011

Sippel's opinion is a great example of what the "paper hearings" composed of comments and replies are missing.

Art Brodsky: Yes, Virginia, Consumers Won A Couple in Washington Art Brodsky 2011

Comcast Cable "has taken an active role in ensuring that its affiliated networks obtain favorable channel placement," Sippel found.

Art Brodsky: Yes, Virginia, Consumers Won A Couple in Washington Art Brodsky 2011

Comcast Cable "has taken an active role in ensuring that its affiliated networks obtain favorable channel placement," Sippel found.

Art Brodsky: Yes, Virginia, Consumers Won A Couple in Washington Art Brodsky 2011

"In general, the larger the interest that Comcast has in a network, the greater the distribution provided by Comcast," Mr. Sippel wrote in the decision, which relied on federal rules that bar cable operators that own channels from discriminating against channels owned by others.

Comcast Loses to Tennis Channel Sam Schechner 2011

In the decision, Administrative Law Judge Richard L. Sippel ruled that the Tennis Channel had proved Comcast had discriminated against it by relegating the outlet to tiers of service available in fewer homes than Comcast's own Golf Channel and Versus sports channel.

Comcast Loses to Tennis Channel Sam Schechner 2011

When he cited testimony by Michael Egan, Comcast's programming expert as "just not credible" when the Comcast exec tried to say the channels were different, Sippel set the tone for a type of opinion that should have been issued long ago in the cable industry.

Art Brodsky: Yes, Virginia, Consumers Won A Couple in Washington Art Brodsky 2011

When he cited testimony by Michael Egan, Comcast's programming expert as "just not credible" when the Comcast exec tried to say the channels were different, Sippel set the tone for a type of opinion that should have been issued long ago in the cable industry.

Art Brodsky: Yes, Virginia, Consumers Won A Couple in Washington Art Brodsky 2011