Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST NEWS: Comcast to settle consumers’ claims for $50M in cash, services, (Oct 29, 2014)

By Greg Hammond, J.D.

Comcast Corp. has agreed to provide consumers with $50 million in cash and services to settle a long-running putative class action suit, alleging that Comcast and its affiliates unlawfully divided and allocated markets and engaged in other conduct in violation of Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act. The consumers have moved for certification of a settlement class and preliminary approval of a class action settlement in the federal district court in Philadelphia (Glaberson v. Comcast Corp., Civ. No. 03-5504 (JP)).

Comcast has agreed to a total Settlement Fund of $50 million, comprised of $16.67 million in settlement cash, as well as services valued at $33.33 million. Current subscribers of video programming services will be entitled to elect either a one-time credit of $15 off their bill, or the following Comcast services: (1) six free pay-per-view movies (estimated value of $35.94); (2) for consumers that subscribe to Xfinity high speed internet service, four months free upgrade in internet service from Performance Level to Blast! service (estimated value of $40), or one free month upgrade from Blast! service to Extreme 105 service (estimated value of $38); or (3) two free months of The Movie Channel (estimated value of $43.90). Consumers who fail to elect either the cash credit or services will automatically receive two free months of The Movie Channel. Additionally class members who are former subscribers may be entitled to $15 in cash, with the submission of a valid claim form.

Attorneys: David Woodward, Vincent J. Esades, Samuel D. Heins, Jessica N. Servais (Heins Mills & Olson, P.L.C.), Barry Barnett, Daniel H. Charest, LeElle Krompass (Susman Godfrey L.L.P.), and Joseph Goldberg (Freedman Boyd Hollander Goldberg Urias & Ward, P.A.) for plaintiffs. Arthur R. Block for Comcast Corp.

Companies: Comcast Corp.

News: Antitrust