The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday found that the plaintiffs, cable and satellite TV subscribers, failed to state an antitrust claim against Walt Disney Co, Fox Entertainment Group Inc, Comcast Corp and several other companies. The plaintiffs intended to seek class-action status.

Maxwell Blecher, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said he was very disappointed in the decision and that his clients will likely seek review before a larger 9th Circuit panel.

"It is so wrong," Blecher said of the ruling.

An attorney for the companies could not immediately be reached for comment.

The lawsuit, filed in a California federal court, alleged that television programmers exploit their market power by requiring distributors to sell less desirable cable channels, along with select "must have" channels. Those business practices impair competition among distributors for consumer business, the plaintiffs alleged.

The lower court dismissed the lawsuit, and on Friday, a three-judge 9th Circuit panel unanimously affirmed.

"The complaint does not allege that programmers' practice of selling 'must-have' and low-demand channels in packages excludes other sellers of low-demand channels from the market," the court wrote, "or that this practice raises barriers to entry into the programming market."

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