FCC Consideration of Program Access Order Seen Increasing Closer to Vote
Attention to a program access order circulated Dec. 16 at the FCC is expected to increase starting next week, with renewed lobbying by industry on the item and more internal discussion at the regulator, agency officials said. The Media Bureau item hasn’t appeared to be subject to extensive internal discussion amongst commissioners’ offices since it was circulated (CD Dec 16 p8). No revision to the order has since circulated, commission officials said.
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It was tentatively set for a vote at the Jan. 20 commission meeting, the FCC said Wednesday. More lobbying is expected next week, an agency official said. The draft item would prevent cable-affiliated channels from withholding programming delivered terrestrially from other pay-TV companies when complainants can show the commission they're at risk of losing subscribers (CD Dec 22 p4). A bureau spokeswoman declined to comment on the item.
“Millions of fans will be extremely happy when they can watch regional sports programming in HD from the TV provider of their choice,” a Verizon spokesman said. An NCTA spokesman declined to comment and a spokeswoman for AT&T didn’t reply to a message seeking comment.
A group of cable-operator competitors told the FCC Tuesday that Section 628(b) of the Communications Act gives it “ample authority to close the terrestrial loophole” when channels owned by cable operators withhold programming that’s not distributed by satellite. “Depending on the circumstances, such exclusive arrangements and discriminatory conduct can be viewed as the conduct of a cable operator, a cable-affiliated satellite programming vendor, or both,” said the Coalition for Competitive Access to Content’s filing in Docket 07-198. “Either way, such conduct falls within the scope of, and is actionable under, Section 628(b), and thus may be proscribed by the rules pursuant to the Commission’s authority under 628(c).” Members of the coalition include AT&T, DirecTV, Knology, SureWest, Wide Open West and the Media Access Project, Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies and USTelecom.
Cablevision executives made their case against extending program access rules to channels affiliated with cable operators that are distributed terrestrially in a Dec. 23 meeting with FCC General Counsel Austin Schlick, a Tuesday filing said. The meeting also was attended by a Media Bureau official. Representatives of the cable operator had similar meetings with aides to FCC members (CD Dec 28 p8).