Representatives of CenturyLink, Frontier, Windstream and the Independent Telephone &...
Representatives of CenturyLink, Frontier, Windstream and the Independent Telephone & Telecommunications Alliance met with Zac Katz and Charles Mathias, aides to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, on “concerns relating to video content accessibility for small and new entrant multichannel video programming…
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distributors.” Small and new MVPD providers “face unique challenges with respect to access to video programming,” they said in a filing on the meeting (http://xrl.us/bnnrop). “The provision of video service is necessary for such providers to compete against incumbent MVPDs, yet their unequal bargaining power in comparison to dominant video providers and programmers in the markets they serve translates to higher rates and unfair terms for the carriage of both broadcast and non-broadcast programming.” One problem competitors face is they “lack any means to determine market value for programming due to mandatory non-disclosure provisions in programming agreements,” the filing said. “However, they are required to agree to these provisions in order to gain access to programming. In ensuring that small and new entrant MVPDs have access to video content on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms, the Commission should consider appropriate mechanisms that would provide greater transparency of programming agreements, including mandatory disclosure of such agreements to the Commission."