A bad hair day for local cable giant Comcast. The Federal Communications Commission Wednesday (Jan 20)
voted to end Comcast's near monopoly on broadcasting Phillies, Sixers and Flyers games. Philadelphia fans who wanted to watch the teams regularly had to get Comcast cable due to the so-called "terrestrial loophole" -- because Comcast transmitted the games over land lines instead of via satellite it refused to make them available to satellite-based providers, such as Dish Network and DirectTV. In a 4-1 vote, the FCC said hooey to that loophole, saying consumers shouldn't have to give seeing these games because they switch providers. Comcast was mum on the ruling, but it was expected to appeal.
