Game Show Network, LLC v. Cablevision Systems Corp.

Compass Lexecon Senior Managing Director Jonathan Orszag testified on behalf of Cablevision in a television carriage dispute between Cablevision and Game Show Network (GSN) before Federal Communications Commission Administrative Law Judge Richard Sippel. In July 2017, the Federal Communications Commission completed its review of Judge Sippel's decision and ruled in favor of Cablevision. The Commission agreed with Orszag’s testimony on the key issues in the case and cited to Orszag’s testimony numerous times. In particular, the Commission found that GSN failed to demonstrate that Cablevision engaged in discrimination on the basis of affiliation in carrying GSN on its Sports and Entertainment tier. The Commission also found that GSN did not demonstrate that it is similarly situated to Cablevision’s television networks. Finally, the Commission found that Cablevision’s asserted business reasons for carrying GSN on the Sports and Entertainment tier were legitimate and non-discriminatory. Orszag was supported by a Compass Lexecon team led by Jay Ezrielev. Orszag and Compass Lexecon worked closely with lawyers from Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, including Jay Cohen, Gary Carney and George Kroup.