Level 3 Communications will deliver the live feed of WealthTV's
specialty lifestyle channel over the Internet to Roku's Internet set-top
boxes -- and not incidentally, both Level 3 and WealthTV have been foes
of Comcast.
Last fall, Netflix picked Level 3 as one of its
primary content delivery networks. As a result, Level 3 requested
significant more capacity to Comcast's network.
The MSO responded that, like other CDNs, it would need to pay for the asymmetric traffic load. That led Level 3 to charge that Comcast is violating network neutrality rules by setting up a "toll booth" to deliver content to consumers.
WealthTV,
meanwhile, previously filed a program carriage complaint against
Comcast and other big MSOs, but a Federal Communications Commission
administrative law judge ruled WealthTV did not demonstrate any of them
had discriminated against it. Last year, WealthTV also filed a petition
asking the FCC to block Comcast's deal for NBC Universal.
