The FCC was lobbied by industry on program access, as commissioners consider...
The FCC was lobbied by industry on program access, as commissioners consider a draft order to end a ban on withholding from pay-TV competitors channels affiliated with cable operators that are distributed using satellites (CD Sept 18 p10). The agency…
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can take action on such exclusive contracts in the absence of a cable exclusivity prohibition, DirecTV said in an ex parte filing in docket 12-68 (http://xrl.us/bnq8xm). The commission could adopt a rebuttable presumption “that an exclusive carriage arrangement involving a satellite-delivered, cable-affiliated network that carries sports content has the purpose and effect hindering significantly or preventing any multichannel video programming distributor from providing satellite cable programming,” it said about a meeting last week with staff from Commissioner Robert McDowell’s office. It also could clarify that a cable-only exclusive or other form of refusal to deal is actionable under program access rules, DirecTV said. These actions and others “are imperative for the protection and preservation of competition and diversity in the distribution of video programming” in the absence of a cable exclusivity prohibition rule, DirecTV added. Cox Communications reiterated that the commission should open a proceeding to examine volume discounts for cable programming, it said in an ex parte filing (http://xrl.us/bnq83s). Multichannel video programming distributors should be required to disclose programming rates “under a protective order to allow the commission to determine the scope of the problem,” Cox said. The filing recounted a meeting last week with Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake and members of the bureau’s Policy Division. Unfair volume discounts place substantial burdens on mid-sized and small cable operators, Cox said.