Key Points
- Viamedia’s antitrust lawsuit filed in 2016 is headed for trial next year.
- The case accuses Comcast of abusing its market monopoly with respect to cable TV ad sales.
- The case has gone through several legal hoops, and at one point involved the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
A court has given the green light for a decade-long antitrust lawsuit filed by Viamedia against Comcast to head to trial.
The case centers around an allegation that Viamedia, a supplier of various advertising services to cable television operators, was not allowed to tap into Comcast’s available ad inventory in several of parts of the country where the company offers Xfinity TV service.
The original case was filed in 2016. Comcast has requested the dismissal of the case several times, with one such instance making its way to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals just before the start of the global coronavirus pandemic.
Viamedia claims Comcast abuses the monopoly it has on traditional pay TV service by not allowing third-party suppliers of advertising services to tap into inventory on its system unless they go through a Comcast sales representative.
Viamedia’s compliant is tied to three specific markets — Hartford, Detroit and Chicago — where Comcast provides local pay TV service. Viamedia originally sought $75 million in damages, but that number has since grown to as much as $387.3 million, according to court documents released last month.
The decision released last month allows the case to head to a jury trial, which is scheduled for October 2026. A Comcast spokesperson declined to comment.
Comcast continues to offer cable TV advertising services in the markets where its Xfinity TV service operates, even as other parts of its business has shifted toward more-lucrative connected TV and streaming video-based advertising.
Likewise, Viamedia still offers cable TV-driven advertising services while marketing itself as an omni-platform solution for marketers seeking to tap a wide variety of ad inventory across different services, including cable TV and streaming. Viamedia offers a full scope of services, from sales management to ad campaign management.
“This case continues to be about ensuring fair and open competition,” said David Solomon, the Chief Executive Officer of Viamedia. “We remain committed to the same principles that have guided our business for more than two decades — providing choice, innovation, transparency, and access for advertisers and local cable television providers across the country.”
