O'Rielly: DOGE Should Use 'Bulldozer' on Video Rules
The planned Department of Government Efficiency should apply “bulldozer treatment” to MVPD regulations, which will ease burdens on providers that are bleeding subscribers, said former FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly in a post for the Free State Foundation Monday. “The video…
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marketplace is still stuck with many mandates and obligations created 30 years ago or more,” O’Rielly wrote. “DOGE could provide a great service by giving this sector a good shakeout and squaring any remaining obligations with how American families actually consume video content.” Comparing the modern video market to its past iterations “is like comparing space travel to a donkey ride,” O’Rielly added. “There can be no justification for keeping current burdens when providers can and should escape to new business models in response.” It would be “ridiculous” to try to apply the same rules cable providers operate under to new video businesses, he wrote. “Can anyone imagine policymakers arguing that the space-wasteful and unwatched public access programming must be included on YouTube or Meta’s Reels?” O’Rielly didn’t specify which video regulations DOGE should target, but said it should avoid retransmission consent because it would draw too much pushback. “Thumping old agency requirements that are no longer needed in the modern world is a worthy and sensible task.”