Altice and GOP Congress Members Raise Idea of Refunds in MSG Blackout
Altice USA and its critics are raising the idea that refunds are owed to Altice subscribers as a result of MSG Network's blackout (see 2501130068). Accordingly, Altice said Thursday that MSG owes its cable subscribers some $125 million in refunds.…
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Altice said the refund figure represents the $10 per month per subscriber that MSG says its sports programming is worth and that Altice subscribers paid for but didn't receive last year. It added that MSG "continues to play games with our customers while refusing to engage in meaningful negotiations." Meanwhile, two Republican House members representing parts of the New York City metro area wrote FCC leadership, saying Altice's handling of talks with MSG and Nexstar involving carriage of WPIX New York (see 250114004) "appears inconsistent" with FCC guidance. "Consumers should not pay the same fees for diminished service, and providers should proactively issue rebates when significant content, such as sports or local news, is removed," said the letter dated Thursday from Nicole Malliotakis of New York and Jefferson Van Drew of New Jersey to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Chairman-designate Brendan Carr. Pointing to the agency's new retransmission consent blackout reporting requirement (see 2501060032), the lawmakers said it "will provide valuable data to inform solutions [to such blackouts], and we stand ready to collaborate with the FCC and consider legislative remedies to address these issues."