Cable Firm Must Offer NFL Network

The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday ordered Time Warner Cable to immediately restore NFL Network programming to customers on the Adelphia and Comcast systems that the cable giant recently acquired. The FCC issued its temporary order two days after Time Warner Cable announced that it would no longer send NFL Network programming into those households.

The FCC order will remain in effect until the agency completes a study and issues a final ruling on whether Time Warner Cable wrongly ignored a federal regulation that requires cable operators to give customers 30 days’ notice prior to eliminating any programming. The agency ordered an expedited review but gave no indication of when it would issue a final order.

For viewers, the decision means that the NFL Network will reappear on their television sets in time for the first preseason NFL game to be broadcast on Aug. 11. The league-owned network will broadcast 52 preseason games and eight regular-season contests.

The NFL, in a Tuesday filing with the FCC, said that it was important for its NFL Network programming to be available during the preseason when fans form their viewing habits for the coming football season. In a prepared statement Thursday, the league welcomed the FCC’s “speedy action” and said it hoped to continue discussions with Time Warner Cable about a long-term deal to carry the NFL Network.

Time Warner Cable on Thursday described the FCC’s temporary order as “wrong.” In a prepared statement, the company said that the order “was issued without offering us the opportunity to respond to the NFL Network’s allegations.”

The disagreement surfaced this week after Time Warner Cable closed a deal that added about 1.6 million subscribers in the Los Angeles area. Time Warner Cable and Comcast Corp. recently completed the purchase of the bankrupt Adelphia Communications Corp. About 400,000 of those new Los Angeles-area Time Warner Cable customers had paid for the NFL Network programming, a Time Warner Cable spokeswoman said.