MPAA, NAB, NCTA Express Concerns on Draft Video Description Order
NAB, NCTA and MPAA visited the FCC last week to lobby for more relaxed video description rules than were previewed in the NPRM on the subject, according to filings in docket 11-43. The groups met with aides to Chairman Tom…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
Wheeler and Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel, Ajit Pai and Mike O’Rielly, according to ex parte filings. The draft item is seen as very close to the NPRM (see 1611020059), and includes increases to the amount of description required and number of companies that must provide the service, and a “no backsliding rule.” All three associations said the FCC lacked the authority to increase the requirements to the degree suggested in the NPRM, and trumpeted industry’s existing video description efforts. Without more flexible rules, “MPAA members and other networks may find it challenging to meet the new 87.5-hour threshold,” the association said. The FCC proposals go beyond what Congress intended, said NCTA. “The record contains only a scant few anecdotal compliments of video description, and is utterly devoid of any data or survey of actual consumer use,” said NAB. The item is set for a vote at Thursday's commissioners' meeting.