Cable television subscribers brought a class action for unfair competition based on rate hikes for carrying channels that broadcast Dodgers and Lakers games. In 2011, a cable television company paid the Lakers $3 billion for licensing rights to televise Lakers games for 20 years over two channels. Cable subscription rates rose by $5 a month. In 2013, the cable company paid the Dodgers $8 billion for the licensing rights to televise Dodgers games for 25 years, raising subscribers’ rates by another $4. In its lawsuit, plaintiffs allege more than 60 percent of the population does not follow sports and would not pay separately to watch Dodgers or Lakers games, and there was no valid reason for bundling these sports stations into their basic cable package, especially when there was no way for subscribers to opt out of paying the extra $9 a month. The trial court sustained defendants’ demurrers without leave to amend, and plaintiffs appealed. The appellate court affirmed, noting federal statutes regulate these areas, unless there has been a fundamental change in the nature of service made without the subscriber’s express advance agreement, and that state and consumer protection statutes are preempted to the extent they target non-fundamental changes. (Fischer v. Time Warner Cable Inc. (Cal. App. Second Dist., Div. 8; February 23, 2015) 234 Cal.App.4th 784, [184 Cal.Rptr.3d 490].)
