The Chairman of the FCC Is Annoyed With Time Warner Cable

Blames Rob Marcus for L.A. Dodgers blackout

Maybe it was the widespread feeling that Tom Wheeler is too close to the industry he regulates. Maybe it was pressure from Congress. Maybe it was John Oliver calling him a dingo. Whatever the reason, Wheeler is now telling Time Warner Cable CEO Rob Marcus personally that "your actions appear to have created the inability of consumers in the Los Angeles area to watch televised games of the Los Angeles Dodgers."

In a business where finger-pointing is considered the sport of kings, that's a pretty harsh blow from an industry regulator—it's not often that an external agency directly apportions blame, but wrangling over costs or no, Wheeler is making an example of TWC in its dispute with the SportsNet LA, the network owned by the Dodgers (disclosure: Guggenheim Partners, Adweek's parent company, acquired the Dodgers in 2012).

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