Commisso Wants New FCC Commissioners To Take the Pledge
Mediacom Chairman Asks Rockefeller, Thune to Seek Commitment from
Nominees Try and Fix 'Broken' Programming Market
By: John Eggerton
Multichannel News
Apr 18 2013 - 10:56am
http://www.multichannel.com/distribution/commisso-wants-new-fcc-commissioners-take-pledge/142799
Mediacom chairman Rocco Commisso has written to Senate Commerce
Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W. Va.) and ranking member John
Thune (R.-S.D.) asking them to secure commitments from a new FCC
chairman and commissioner that they will "promptly address the broken
video programming marketplace."
Their committee holds the nomination hearings for new commissioners.
FCC chairman Julius Genachowksi is likely presiding over his last
meeting today (April 18) and Republican Robert McDowell has recused
himself from decisions as both prepare to exit in the next few weeks.
Commisso argues that Genachowski and his predecessor, Kevin Martin, both
dodged the issue by contending the FCC lacked authority.
"In our view, the Commission has used its assertion that it lacks the
authority to take effective action as an excuse for doing nothing,"
Commisso wrote.
Commission pointed to commission inaction on a pair of proceedings,
calling it an unconscionable disservice to consumers.
"It has been *over five years* since chairman Martin initiated a
proceeding regarding the programming industry's bundling practices," he
said. "It has been *three years* since chairman Genachowski first
solicited comment on petitions seeking reform of the retransmission
consent rules."
Commisso contends he has hired good lawyers who argue that the FCC does
have the authority, and pointed in the letter to statements from the
late Sens. Daniel Inouye and Ted Stevens, former chairs of Senate
Commerce, that the FCC had the power under the 1992 Cable Act to take
action to protect consumers in retrans battles.
Commisso was referring to a letter the Senators sent to the FCC in 2007,
during a retrans impasse between Mediacom and Sinclair in which they
said that the FCC had the authority to mandate arbitration. They
"strongly" urged the FCC to step in, at least to mandate carriage
duriung the impasse. The commission did not, and under Genachowski has
also indicated it lacked the authority to step in to mandate carriage or
arbitration.
The FCC's attorneys have maintained that their authority is limited to
enforcing good faith negotiations, and under Genachowski proposed to
better define what those are. But no action was taken on that open item.
But the chairman has made it clear that the FCC is reluctant to insert
itself in what he sees as free market negotiations. Cable operators,
including Commisso's company, view them as being tilted toward
broadcasters, given the must-carry/retrans regime and broadcasters'
abiliy to negotiate payments for multiple stations in the market via
joint operating agreements.
Commisso said the FCC has done nothing in the face of "unchecked
increases in sports programming fees, extortionate demands for
retransmission-consent payments, and coercive wholesale bundling tactics."
--
=================================================
George Antunes Voice (713) 743-3923
Associate Professor Fax (713) 743-3927
Political Science Mail: antunes at uh dot edu
University of Houston
Houston, TX 77204-3011
_______________________________________________
Medianews mailing list
[email protected]
http://etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews_etskywarn.net
