WASHINGTON (CN) - A Christian-owned subscription television service operator will get one more chance to amend its suit against C-SPAN, a federal judge ruled.
In its 2012 complaint against National Cable Satellite Corp. dba C-SPAN, Sky Angel accused the station of trying to monopolize the market for real-time, multichannel video programming distribution services.
Sky Angel operates FAVE-TV, a subscription service that distributes "faith-based" and "family-oriented" video programming. Though C-SPAN agreed to let Sky Angel broadcast its legislative programming in 2009, C-SPAN shut off the feed just three days in.
Claiming that C-SPAN never revealed why it terminated the deal, Sky Angel sought a 10-year programming license with the nonprofit, alleging that it had been harmed by a group boycott in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act.
C-SPAN explained to the Washington, D.C., court that it had agreed to let Sky Angel carry its networks on a protected Internet-protocol-based stream but found that Sky Angel's distribution technology would breach that deal since it includes public Internet.
U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras dismissed the boycott and monopoly claims in June, but found it plausible that the lack of C-SPAN programming hurt Sky Angel's profits and reputation. The next month, however, the judge refused Sky Angel's bid for limited discovery relating to the identity and conduct of certain corporate actors.
An amended complaint failed to cure the deficiencies of the original, leading to a second dismissal Friday.
Sky has 30 days to amend its complaint for the last time, according to the ruling.
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