Simington: FCC Should Take 'Second Look' at Virtual MPVD Reclassification
The FCC should take “a second look” at reclassifying streaming platforms -- sometimes called virtual MVPDs -- as MVPDs and allow broadcasters more flexibility to consolidate, Commissioner Nathan Simington said Tuesday in a Daily Caller column co-authored with Gavin Wax, his chief of staff. “The Communications Act’s definition of a ‘channel’ must be expanded from covering spectrum to encompass digital distribution,” they wrote. “If it walks and talks like a broadcaster, it should be regulated like one.”
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The regulatory asymmetry for broadcast and streaming also has “implications for broader political discourse,” the op-ed said. “Traditional broadcasters are bound by fairness rules, but streaming platforms are not. As more political messaging moves online, the lack of regulatory parity will only deepen the gap in accountability.” The FCC shouldn’t “impose broadcast-era rules on new technology” but instead modernize its rules and treat “similar services similarly,” Simington and Wax wrote. On broadcast ownership, they said the FCC should relax rules to “allow traditional broadcasters greater flexibility to consolidate and compete.” That “does not mean unchecked mergers, but rather smart, targeted reforms that reflect economic realities.”