Dismissal of Antitrust Suit Against Turner Broadcasting and Time Warner Cable Reaffirmed

On March 30, 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reaffirmed the District Court’s June 3, 2011 ruling, which dismissed a complaint that alleged antitrust violations by Cravath clients Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. and Time Warner Cable Inc. Subscribers of cable and broadcast programming services brought suit against five major programming companies and seven cable and satellite providers, alleging that the practice of selling multi-channel cable packages, which are then offered to subscribers in “bundled tiers” rather than on an “a la carte” basis, violated Section 1 of the Sherman Act. In October 2009, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss the complaint with prejudice for failure to state a claim for relief under Section 1 of the Sherman Act. On June 3, 2011, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the District Court’s decision. Plaintiffs’ petition for a rehearing was pending when the Ninth Circuit withdrew its decision on October 31, 2011 after one of the members of the appellate panel passed away. The reconstituted panel reaffirmed the decision.

The Cravath team included partners Peter T. Barbur, Yonatan Even and associate Christopher D. Belelieu.