Costs, Unknown Timeframe for Resolution Keep Small MVPDs From Filing Retrans Complaints, WTA Says
Small, rural multichannel video programing distributors face plenty of retransmission negotiation problems with broadcasters but don't file formal complaints with the FCC largely due to the costs of doing so and the question of how long it might take to…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
get a resolution, said WTA, Interstate Communications and Northeast Nebraska Telephone (NNT) in an ex parte filing posted Friday in docket 15-216. Often the legal costs "and economic damage from failure to reach agreement" outweigh the benefits of filing a complaint, they said, noting the FCC's review of the totality of circumstances test to good-faith negotiating. WTA and others said small, rural MVPDs "are in a vastly inferior bargaining position" with network affiliates and talks are usually of the "take it or leave it" ilk, meaning their aggregate per-subscriber retrans consent fees paid to local stations have gone up exponentially in the past 10 years. They also pushed for more transparency so the FCC could decide whether large MVPDs pay notably less in retrans consent and other programming fees than small MVPDs. WTA said some MVPDs have created a "broadcast fees" line item on consumers' bills that still complies with contractual nondisclosure obligations but gives subscribers some idea of the drivers of cable and IPTV rate hikes. Small MVPDs also have seen broadcasters seek contractual language regarding new linear cable networks that could be bought or created in the future, yet balk at retrans consent terms that reflect the costs rural pay-TV providers face when they have to engage third parties in receiving broadcast signals at their head-ends, they said. The rise of retrans consent fees and other programming costs could be slowed through such steps as a la carte pricing and allowing MVPDs to negotiate for retrans with stations outside their designated market areas, WTA and others said. The filing recapped a meeting WTA, Interstate and NNT representatives had with FCC staff, including Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake. In a statement Friday, NAB said broadcast retrans consent fees "remain just a small fraction of a typical cable bill. The fact is that high cable rates can be pegged to exorbitant set top box fees, high DVR fees, and rising fees for cable networks that are rarely watched.”