City of Chicago v. Comcast Cable Holdings

Plaintiff, the City of Chicago (City), appeals from an order of the circuit court of Cook County dismissing its action to recover certain cable franchise fees from defendants, multiple companies that provide Internet and cable service in Chicago, including Comcast,1 RCN Cable TV of Chicago, Inc. (RCN), and Wideopenwest Illinois, Inc. (WOW) (defendants).2 The trial court determined that the City is preempted under federal law from recovering a cable franchise fee from defendants in the amount of 5% of defendants’ annual gross revenues. On appeal, the City contends that: (1) the franchise…