Judge Won't Dismiss Viamedia Claims Against Comcast

Comcast had moved to dismiss the Viamedia complaint, which alleged that Comcast has unlawfully impeded Viamedia and other spot cable ad sales companies' ability to compete with Spotlight. Specifically, Viamedia says Comcast has abused its controlling stake in NCC and a regional cable interconnect spot sales cooperative to thwart competition and force spot cable advertisers to use Spotlight instead of Viamedia or others.
The complaint is focused on Chicago and Detroit, where Comcast controls regional cable ad sales, says the court.
In the decision upholding Comcast's request in part, Judge Amy St. Eve said Viamedia "has plausibly alleged that Defendants engaged in conduct that lowered the quality of service available in the spot cable advertising representation market, and that this conduct resulted in harm to Viamedia." She said those allegations "sufficiently plead antitrust injury."