• Associated Press, Monday, December 11, 2006 11 AM

Time Warner Cable is suing DirecTV Group Inc., accusing the company of deceptive trade practices and false advertising regarding the NFL Network.

A lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Manhattan claims DirecTV lied about the accessibility of football broadcasts in an attempt to grab customers from Time Warner Cable. It seeks unspecified damages and a court order to stop DirecTV from saying that Time Warner Cable subscribers cannot watch their local NFL team play games when DirecTV is showing NFL Network games.

"These ads are blatantly false," the lawsuit claims, citing newspaper ads from DirectTV saying that the Dec. 30 game between the New York Giants and the Washington Redskins will not be available to 4.4 million people in New York unless they join DirecTV.

Time Warner says that game will be broadcast to its customers in New York on WNBC-TV, even if the residents are not DirecTV customers. A DirecTV spokesman says the company has no immediate comment on the lawsuit.

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