Media company sues Comcast, alleging racial discrimination

Entertainment Studios Networks Inc., a California company that calls itself a "100 percent African American-owned media company," has sued Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Cable Inc., claiming the cable firms have engaged in racial discrimination by failing to distribute its cable channels.

Also named as defendants in the suit, filed Friday in federal court in Los Angeles, were the Rev. Al Sharpton, the National Urban League, and the NAACP.

The suit, which seeks $20 billion in damages, claims that Sharpton and the civil rights groups entered into "sham" diversity agreements with Comcast that worked to the detriment of Entertainment Studios.

Entertainment Studios's cable networks include MyDestination.tv, Pets.tv, and Central Justice. The National Association of African-American Owned Media also joined in the suit against Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and others as a plaintiff.

The association filed a similar lawsuit in Los Angeles federal court in December against AT&T Inc. and DirecTV. That suit seeks $10 billion in damages.

The suits come as the Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department are reviewing proposals for Comcast to acquire Time Warner Cable and for AT&T to acquire DirecTV.

On Monday, Comcast called the suit frivolous. A company spokeswoman said in a statement: "We do not generally comment on pending litigation, but this complaint represents nothing more than a string of inflammatory, inaccurate, and unsupported allegations."

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