Liberman, Comcast Clash on White Areas in Carriage Complaint Recon
EstrellaTV's sizable white area distribution is a sign the network is home to largely undesirable programming, Comcast argued in a meeting with FCC Media Bureau and Office of General Counsel staffers. EstrellaTV parent Liberman Broadcasting countered it's a deliberate strategy.…
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The companies Tuesday in docket 16-121 (see here and here) recapped a joint meeting with the FCC on Liberman's 2016 unsuccessful carriage complaint (see 1604080013) and current petition to reconsider (see 1609260049). Finding the EstrellaTV complaint gives it standing in white areas, even if the Media Bureau affirmed its dismissal order, would be valuable, Liberman said. It said in a proceeding before an administrative law judge it would ask that the FCC order Comcast to carry EstrellaTV on similar terms to Comcast-owned Telemundo. Liberman said nothing in the 2016 order disqualifies EstrellaTV from qualifying as a video programming vendor (VPV) under Section 616 of the Communications Act, and determining Liberman isn't a VPV would take away a tool to prevent unlawful MVPD behavior. It said the plain language of the Communications Act, FCC precedent and that EstrellaTV is distributed the same way cable network feeds are point to it qualifying as a VPV. It also argued it's similarly situated to Telemundo, with both having the same target audience and common advertisers. Yet Comcast distributes Telemundo in all of the Telemundo owned-and-operated stations and affiliate markets it serves, but carries EstrellaTV in only three EstrellaTV O&O markets, Liberman said. Comcast said the bureau should affirm its August order finding EstrellaTV isn't a VPV and lacks standing to file a program carriage complaint. It said the bureau should deny EstrellaTV's petition for recon. Comcast argued the record isn't established enough to rule whether EstrellaTV is a VPV with respect to its white area feed. It said if EstrellaTV wants to pursue that line of complaint, it should file a new one, but when looking at the existing record, EstrellaTV has no basis to assert it's a VPV for purposes of its white area feed. It said stations are EstrellaTV's primary distribution mode, so a white area feed -- serving areas outside broadcast signal range -- makes no sense. The cable firm said the Liberman demand for compensation for the white area feed "is out of step with how it is treated in the broader marketplace," since there's no evidence it gets such license fees from other MVPDs. Meeting participants were Comcast representatives including Senior Vice President-Legal Regulatory Affairs Frank Buono, Liberman representatives including CEO Lenard Liberman, and Media Bureau and Office of the General Counsel staffers.