Entertainment Studios (ES) and the National Association of African-American Owned Media (NAAAOM) filed federal lawsuits against Comcast and Charter Communications, two of the biggest cable television carriers in the country—$20 billion against Comcast and $10 billion against Charter—for violating the Civil Rights Act of 1866, 42 U.S.C. § 1981, prohibiting racial discrimination in contracting.
“The lack of true economic inclusion for African Americans will end with me, and these rulings show that I am unwavering in my commitment to achieving this long overdue goal.” – Byron Allen
Entertainment Studios owns eight 24-hour HD television networks serving nearly 160 million subscribers: THE WEATHER CHANNEL, PETS.TV, COMEDY.TV, RECIPE.TV, CARS.TV, ES.TV, MYDESTINATION.TV, and JUSTICE CENTRAL.TV. The company also produces, distributes, and sells advertising for 41 television programs, making it one of the largest independent producers/distributors of first-run syndicated television programming for broadcast television stations.
For years, Entertainment Studios has been requesting that Comcast and Charter carry its networks, which are distributed by Comcast and Charter’s competitors, including Verizon, DirecTV, AT&T, DISH, and many other carriers.
Comcast and Charter rebuffed Allen’s requests for network carriage so he filed lawsuits in federal district court in Los Angeles entitled National Association of African American-Owned Media, et al. v. Comcast Corporation, Case No. 2:15-cv-01239-TJH-MAN (C.D. Cal.) and National Association of African American-Owned Media, et al. v. Charter Communications, Case No. 2:16-cv-00609-GW-FFM (C.D. Cal.).
This week, two historically significant decisions were made by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. They rejected Comcast and Charter’s attempts to dismiss the cases before trial.
The Court upheld Entertainment Studios’ Section 1981 claims against both Comcast and Charter; and instead ruled that both cases could proceed in the trial courts to discovery and trial.
“These decisions are hugely important in terms of opening the courts to African American-owned media. The Court paved the way to our eventual success at trial by ensuring that the proper ‘mixed motive’ standard for our claims – a lower standard of proof than the ‘but for’ standard argued by Comcast and Charter – applies,” said Entertainment Studios’ attorney, Skip Miller, partner in Miller Barondess.
“Additionally, the Court dismissed Charter’s and Comcast’s attempts to use the First Amendment as a shield for their alleged discrimination. I very much look forward to trying these cases. And I give Mr. Allen tremendous credit for having the will and the constitution to invest the capital and resources to pursue them relentlessly.”
Earlier this year, Byron Allen’s television production company, Entertainment Studios, acquired The Weather Channel from its previous owners: Comcast Corp.’s NBCUniversal and private equity firms Blackstone Group and Bain Capital.