Comcast wins legal battle with DirecTV

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- A legal battle between Comcast Corp. and the DirecTV Group in Los Angeles ended in DirecTV having to stop attacking Comcast in its ads.

The two companies charged each other with false advertising, but Comcast won out last week when U.S. District Judge John Grady told DirecTV it can't cite false studies claiming its High definition product is better than Comcast's, said The Hollywood Reporter Sunday.

DirecTV was using “favorable results” from a TNS survey in recent ads, though the judge said the survey compared a DirecTV digital signal to an analog signal from Comcast.

Another ad cited a survey from Alliance Consulting Group of professional home-theater installers that claimed they preferred the picture quality of DirecTV over cable, though the judge deemed that one unfair, as well.

Grady’s ruling said DirecTV must "immediately cease and refrain in any territory in which Comcast provides cable television" advertising any claims stemming from the TNS or Alliance Consulting Group surveys.