Adding to the cluster**** that is the CSN Houston issue, Comcast came out and said this morning that they wouldn't purchase the network to get it out of bankruptcy, doing the opposite of what Jim Crane thought they would do less than a week ago.
A statement from Comcast read, in part:
Comcast initiated this bankruptcy proceeding in the belief that the
Chapter 11 process would permit the network to reorganize, thus
preserving the network’s value and the jobs of many employees...Much has happened, however, in the nearly six months
since this involuntary case was filed. In view of these developments,
Comcast is no longer prepared to purchase the network.
“Comcast remains open to considering any proposal by the debtor for
reorganizing the network successfully in Chapter 11, including through
an auction or through further efforts to obtain additional carriage.
Astros General Counsel Giles Kibbe said that it represents a shift in Comcast's negotiation tactics:
Comcast drove the network into bankruptcy for the stated purpose of
preventing us from terminating our media rights agreement and to buy the
network out of bankruptcy. Now, after forcing the city,
fans and teams through this ordeal for the last seven months, they’re
pulling out. Market conditions haven’t changed. Comcast’s tactics have.
So this is just great.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
