NFL chief urges crackdown on cable companies

By Peter Kaplan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of the National Football League said on Wednesday that U.S. regulators should crack down on cable operators that he accused of using their market power to discriminate against independent channel offerings like its NFL Network.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told a congressional hearing the Federal Communications Commission should take stronger action against cable companies, which he contends are using their position in the market to hobble independent programmers.

"Dominant cable operators have the motive and means to discriminate against independent programmers. History demonstrates that they have done so and continue to do so," Goodell told the House subcommittee on telecommunications and the Internet.

The NFL is seeking broader exposure for its new NFL Network and claims cable operators, such as Comcast Corp and Time Warner Cable, unfairly give their own affiliated channels a leg up through better channel placement and financial terms.

Goodell complained that Comcast and Time Warner offer NFL Network, which features a package of NFL games, only as part of an added sports programming tier that costs subscribers an additional monthly fee. He said the FCC process for resolving such disputes is slow and ineffective.

But Goodell ran into skepticism from some lawmakers, and a cable industry executive who said the industry should not be forced to carry certain channels on their basic cable tiers.

Rep. Cliff Stearns, the ranking Republican on the panel, questioned why the government should be involved in a private business dispute, especially since the cable operators face growing competition from satellite TV and telephone service providers.

"This means that (programmers) have no shortage of outlets, suggesting requests for government intervention may just be attempts by parties to get what they could not obtain in a negotiation," said Stearns, of Florida.

Glenn Britt, chief executive of Time Warner Cable, told the panel the NFL was being "disingenuous" in asking for the government mandate that they carry NFL Network on basic cable at the same time it has an exclusive deal to provide a package of NFL games to satellite TV provider DirecTV

Comcast spokesman John Demming said the company offers NFL Network on its specialized sports programming tier because, "it's the best and fairest way to provide their expensive programming to customers, because viewers who want to watch the channels will be able to see it while others who prefer not to receive it will not be forced to pay for it."

(Reporting by Peter Kaplan; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)