Supreme Court Won't Hear A La Carte Class Action Suit

Subs had tried to sue cable and satellite operators over bundled programming packages

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 11/6/2012 2:59:02 PM

The Supreme Court, in a one-line rejection Monday, declined to hear the appeal of a class action suit filed by cable and satellite subs, who had argued that channel bundling violated antitrust laws, and had asked the courts to compel programmers and distributors to offer single channels for purchase.

Back in March, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the suit, BRANTLEY, ROB, ET AL. V. NBCUNIVERSAL, ET AL, saying the plaintiffs had not stated a plausible claim. They sought Supreme court review of that decision, which Monday was denied.

The "et al," on the NBCUniversal side included Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Disney, DirecTV, Dish, Fox, Cox and Cablevison.