The spokesman for TVFreedom took an ax to...

Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., circulated Local Choice last month and say they want to attach it to Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act reauthorization legislation. TVFreedom represents broadcasters, including NAB. “Similar itemized pricing and channel distribution models have been widely criticized by the cable and satellite TV industry in the past,” the spokesman wrote in a Wednesday blog post (http://bit.ly/1nxc7yc). “In fact, the pay-TV lobby has collectively dismissed such proposals as unproven business models that would create uncertainty in the marketplace and result in increased costs for consumers.” TVFreedom had posted a blog post Tuesday questioning whether Local Choice would benefit consumers, prompting a strong defense of Local Choice from American Cable Association President Matt Polka (CD Sept 3 p13). Wednesday, the TVFreedom spokesman referred to ACA as Local Choice’s “biggest cheerleader” and accused Local Choice of reflecting poor economic wisdom. “What the pay-TV lobby is really attempting to do under Local Choice is decrease the number of subscribers who watch local broadcast TV on their systems, giving them a market advantage to pull in more advertising revenues over broadcast TV stations,” the TVFreedom spokesman said. He called for “robust public dialogue” on Local Choice rather than rushing it through STELA reauthorization this year. “This will lead to many local TV stations setting their channel rates at unattractively higher prices in an attempt to make up for lost pay-TV viewers and, subsequently, lost advertising revenues,” he said. Meanwhile, Institute for Liberty President Andrew Langer showered praise on Local Choice, which “would inject real competition and consumer choice into a broadcast industry that is currently dominated by crony capitalism,” he wrote in a Daily Caller op-ed (http://bit.ly/1tu7vzG). “This is a major step in the right direction as real competition could lower cable prices; not to mention end the combative negotiation structure that currently harms consumers with blackouts.” Center for Boundless Innovation in Technology Executive Director Fred Campbell reshaped one of his August blog posts (CD Aug 29 p7) into a Wednesday op-ed for The Hill (http://bit.ly/1t0On8L), arguing there’s a “direct link between the Local Choice proposal and net neutrality” philosophically and urging Thune to “kill the proposal” to stay ideologically consistent.