LA Times--Senator Kerry queries FCC on MLB Extra Innings Deal

"MLB expected to announce the deal as early as next week, but that was less certain after Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) on Thursday asked the Federal Communications Commission to investigate the matter." (We find out Kerry left the hearing early and faxed a letter).

• "For five seasons, MLB's Extra Innings has offered up to 60 regular-season, out-of-market games a week on cable, through the In Demand service, as well as DirecTV and Dish Network.

Under terms of the new deal, DirecTV reportedly would pay $100 million a year over seven years for the rights to the package. In Demand reportedly had offered $70 million a year to retain Extra Innings.

• Last year, a similar carriage dispute took NFL Network off Time Warner.

The issue gained national attention when Kerry on Wednesday said he would question FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin at a previously scheduled Senate Commerce committee hearing the next day.

• Kerry left the hearing early, though, and instead faxed a letter to Martin, citing concerns about the deal and contending that Extra Innings has been available to 75 million subscribers but would be available to only 15 million if DirecTV has it alone.

Of the 500,000 subscribers to the Extra Innings package last season, 270,000 were with DirecTV, according to sources. Going by those numbers, 230,000 would be left out this season. DirecTV has a disproportionate number of Extra Innings subscribers because it caters to sports fans. NFL Sunday Ticket, by far the most popular pay sports package, has always belonged to DirecTV exclusively, and the rights fee is now a whopping $700 million a year. That package's exclusivity never caused much of an uproar among fans because it was never available on cable.

• Kerry, in his letter, said, "In the case of my hometown team, Red Sox Nation stretches all across our country from coast to coast. I am concerned that this deal … will separate fans from their favorite teams."

Kerry could not be reached by phone Friday, but Vince Morris, a spokesman, said the senator is taking up the fight not only because he is a Red Sox fan but because people had been approaching him, seeking answers. "He wants to find out more facts and find out what the FCC can do," Morris said.

• An FCC spokesman would not comment on Kerry's letter. The agency has some authority over cable and satellite television but generally stays out of programming issues that don't involve local content." WHAT? ALL THESE GAMES ARE 'LOCAL CONTENT!' (sm)

The FCC has allowed NFL Sunday Ticket to be offered exclusively on DirecTV since 1994. However, News Corp. has filed a request for permission from the FCC to transfer its controlling 38.5% stake in DirecTV to Liberty Media Corp in a swap of assets, and any complaints about baseball's Extra Innings deal could come up in that review. Those involved in the deal declined to comment, but baseball executives have privately suggested that fans with cable can subscribe to the broadband package, which cost $79 last season, $100 less than what Extra Innings cost. But Hecht, for one, isn't buying it, saying, "There is no substitute to kicking back on a couch and watching a game on a TV screen."" From article by Larry Stewart, LA Times, 2/3/07, "Baseball TV Deal Contested"

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