More Programs Headed to Pay TV if Retrans Rules Change, NBC Affiliates Say
The hundreds of broadcast station retransmission consent negotiations that happen yearly without any blackout of service to multichannel video programming distributor subscribers are proof the retrans market doesn't need changes in the totality of circumstances test for good-faith negotiations, the…
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NBC TV Affiliates Association told FCC staff, said an ex parte filing Monday in docket 15-216. The few blackouts that occur involve a handful of national satellite and cable companies, the affiliates said, and the retrans consent proceeding "only serves to encourage these and other MVPDs" to try to use such blackouts to gain regulatory advantage. The affiliates also repeated their case the FCC doesn't have statutory authority to require interim carriage during retrans disputes (see 1601150015). They also said any FCC change of retrans rules that handicaps the negotiating power of stations would only accelerate the trend of top-rated sports and entertainment programming to jump ship from over-the-air broadcast stations to subscription-based pay-TV providers. And the affiliates said MVPD complaints about retrans fee increases are "repetitive whining," especially since monthly subscription fees for different pay-TV services "clearly dwarf the most aggressive broadcast retransmission consent fees paid by MVPDs for significantly more popular local broadcast stations." The ex parte filing recapped a meeting between affiliates representatives including Chairman Ralph Oakley and such FCC staff as Commissioner Mike O'Rielly and Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake.