Seven Network Ltd. last year lost a lawsuit alleging Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. and others colluded to win TV rights for the Australian Football League, forcing the closure of his C7 sports channel.
Its appeal will be heard by a full bench of the Federal Court and will focus on two main allegations: that the owners of pay-television company Foxtel colluded in late 2000 to ensure C7 lost the AFL rights and did not pick up the NRL rights, and that Foxtel misused its market power by refusing to carry C7's sports channels from 1998 to 2000. C7 closed in May 2002.
Seven alleges that its ambitions in pay-televison were thwarted to entrench monopolies in sports programming for Fox Sports (jointly owned by News and Consolidated Media) and in retail pay TV for Foxtel (jointly owned by Telstra, News and Consolidated Media).
