Cablevision Customers File $450 Million Class-Action Suit Over Fox Blackout

This is what happens when you take Glee away from people — they file an almost half-billion dollar lawsuit against you. Or at least that’s what some Cablevision customers in New York have done as the standoff between the cable company and Fox nears the end of its second week.

This isn’t the first time that Cablevision has faced a class action lawsuit after channels were pulled. Earlier this year, a class action was filed after HGTV and the Food Network were removed from the dial, but the lawsuit went nowhere because Cablevision soon came to an agreement that restored service.

From the Hollywood Reporter:

According to the complaint, plaintiffs want a federal judge to settle several legal questions including whether Cablevision breached its agreements with customers, whether Cablevision has been unjustly enriched, whether Cablevision has engaged in unfair and deceptive and fraudulent practices, and whether “Cablevision should be enjoined from employing its negotiating strategies at the expense of its customers in the future.”

The customers claim Cablevision “played a game of chicken with News Corp. at the expense of Cablevision’s customers” and has deprived them of the Fox channels’ “distinctive viewpoint in the political speech arena” with only days to go before federal elections.

They are also irritated by the “annoying and self-serving loop” that Cablevision is airing in place of Fox and other blacked-out NewsCorp channels.

For its part, Cablevision tells Consumerist:

News Corp. is the company that deserves a lawsuit, for blacking out the World Series in three million New York-area homes. The FCC has all the facts and our customers are demanding that the FCC act to end the FOX blackout.

You can check out the entire complaint here.

Cablevision Customers File $450 million Class Action Lawsuit [Hollywood Reporter]

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