David Barron is killing it on Twitter, as he's in attendance for the hearing to determine if the CSN Houston involuntary bankruptcy suit will get thrown out, or will proceed as planned. Some key updates for you:
But before we get to the updates, take a few minutes to read Barron's story from yesterday on just how the Astros, Rockets, and CSN Houston got here.
3:46pm: Figures being tossed around in testimony are being kept hidden from the public, per NBC/Comcast's request.
3:35pm: Postolos says the Astros kept asking Comcast to restructure CSN Houston in October 2012, but "there was no way to get them to come to the table."
2:39pm: 2nd witness (after Jim Crane) is George Postolos, who testifies that Drayton's adviser Steve Greenberg told the new ownership group that CSN Houston would grow in value enough to pay for the team and network share by 2020.
1:56pm: Even if the Astros had completed carriage deals earlier this season, CSN Houston was still projected to lose money in the long-term.
1:48pm: Jim Crane says that he called Fox to talk about returning Astros games to the network.
12:09pm: That offer might have been the first domino, but Crane says CSN Houston was on the path to lose up to $200m.
12:06pm: An unnamed distributor offered a deal on May 10, but the Astros rejected it as the deal wouldn't have made CSN Houston profitable on its own.
11:39am: Jim Crane, the first witness, says Comcast never offered anything "remotely close" to the $150m needed for CSN Houston to be profitable.
11:15am: The Rockets have officially broken with the Astros and are now joining Comcast as a petitioning creditor.
10:57am: Opening statements finish
10:53am: CSN Houston owes the Astros $18m in unpaid rights fees.
10:43am: Comcast says there was an offer from a carrier that would have led to a more modest profit, and further carriage deals, but the Astros balked.
10:39am: Comcast's attorney says the original profit expectations simply isn't attainable now.
10:30am: Astros say DirecTV's current offer isn't enough to make the network profitable.
10:15am: The attorney for the Astros is arguing that the Comcast affiliates don't meet the requirements to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. He says the partnership with CSN Houston was "like a pre-nup," and the relationship hasn't worked out.
8:56am: There are at least 35 lawyers in attendance
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
