Nothing in the short life of troubled regional sports network CSN Houston has come easy, and that trend is continuing in the transfer of ownership in federal bankruptcy court.
With a critical hearing scheduled for Thursday, Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) has accused AT&T (NYSE: T) and DirecTV (NASDAQ: DTV) of holding back information in their quest to acquire the struggling RSN.
According to the Houston Chronicle, Comcast wants access to internal analysis and communications--including emails--from AT&T and DirecTV as part of their proposed purchase of CSN Houston.
Comcast's CSN Houston partners--local pro teams the Houston Rockets and Astros--have approved the purchase. But Comcast is only getting $16 million to $23 million back on a $100 million secured loan given to the joint venture as start-up capital in 2012. Comcast wants to know if everyone else is getting a sweetheart deal except for unpopular Philadelphia-based cable companies.
"The proposed plan provides the teams with what appears to be billions of dollars in future revenue--raising the question of whether the teams are being overpaid for their media rights in exchange for granting (DirecTV and AT&T) the opportunity to pay virtually nothing for the equity in the network" Comcast's attorneys state in a brief to the court.
Much like Time Warner Cable's SportsNet LA, CSN Houston was never able to achieve a critical mass of carriage because the No. 2 operator in the market, DirecTV, never signed on.
For more information:
- read this Houston Chronicle story
Related links:
DirecTV set to take over Houston RSN it refused to carry
Comcast cites 'total gridlock' at CSN Houston in bankruptcy filing
Dish offers to distribute carriage-starved CSN Houston a la carte