Comcast Corp. is embroiled in a lawsuit with yet another programmer owned
by Liberty Media Corp.
The programmer: TV-music provider DMX Inc., which is paid more than $18
million per year through an apparent sweetheart deal with AT&T Broadband,
the MSO Comcast acquired late last year.
Comcast has balked at the so-called contribution agreement between DMX parent
Liberty Digital Inc. and AT&T Broadband, with its 20-year term. The
Philadelphia-based mega-MSO inherited the contract when it acquired the AT&T
Broadband systems.
So Liberty Digital, the 56 percent owner of digital-music service DMX, is
suing Comcast for breach of contract.
DMX has 10 million subscribers, according to its Web site
(www.dmxmusic.com ).
It is carried by EchoStar Communications Corp., which has 6 million
direct-broadcast satellite homes.
The pending litigation is very similar to Comcast's
dispute with Starz Encore Group LLC, as are the issues it raises.
