• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, November 5, 2019

Comcast and cable content providers including Disney, Fox Cable and NBCUniversal are awaiting a court decision on their request for a restraining order to block implementation of Maine’s new so-called “à la carte” cable law.

The cable players filed suit in September against the Maine and more than a dozen of its towns, challenging the legality of the new regulation — the first state law to require that cable operators give consumers the option of buying individual channels, not just packages.

While the law became effective on September 19, the state has said that it will not enforce it until the lawsuit is resolved. Comcast et al filed for the temporary injunction nevertheless.  

Federal District Court Judge Nancy Torreson heard arguments on the injunction request on Friday, but did not say when she plans to rule on it.

An attorney for Comcast, Matthew Brill, argued that federal rules prohibit states and localities from imposing such business restrictions on cable companies; that the law violates cable companies’ First Amendment rights to determine its programming content and the structure of its offerings; and that the law would “upend the economics” of the industry by fundamentally altering how cable service is provided, reported the Portland Press Herald.

The plaintiffs also argue that the law would force less popular cable channels out of business, encourage the most popular ones to jack up their fees, and ultimately result in less programming diversity and higher fees than currently for consumers.

The law, if upheld, would no doubt inspire a raft of similar laws from other states and municipalities — hence “the phalanx of lawyers sitting in Portland’s federal courtroom Friday,” noted the newspaper.

The state argues that the cable interests are ingenuously cloaking business decisions in the First Amendment.

The law’s proponents have also pointed out that the OTT platforms being created by cable content producers and TV networks are also essentially challenging cable bundles.

“The truth is that [cable companies] are already offering à la carte, pay per view, and streaming services when it suits them,” said Maine Rep. Jeffrey Evangelos, who introduced the original bill. “Now it’s time they offered programming that suits their customers, who are demanding reforms and action.”

Maine ranks eleventh among all U.S. states in terms of its cord-cutting rate (66% of the state’s subscribers have cut the cord), according to a 2019 survey by West Monroe Partners.