In the Courts

If at first you don’t succeed, amend your lawsuit. That’s the tact The America Channel is taking as it fights for carriage on the country’s largest MSOs, Comcast and Time Warner Cable. A MN District judge dismissed the channel’s antitrust lawsuit against the 2 MSOs last month, giving it 20 days to amend its complaint with sufficient facts. TAC refiled its lawsuit Mon night, asking the court to force the companies to divest their recently acquired Adelphia systems. The channel claims, among other things, that the operators discriminate against independent programming nets and have instead "favored and carried only" nets that they or broadcasters have interest in (must be news to Current TV). TAC claims it has offered its service for free and that the 2 MSOs prevented it from obtaining carriage with Adelphia before it was sold. "While we do not comment on pending litigation, we continue to believe that The America Channel’s litigation is meritless," a Comcast spokeswoman said. Time Warner said it’s reviewing the complaint.