NAB: Blackout Notification Item Would Exceed FCC Authority
An FCC proposal requiring that MVPDs notify the agency of retransmission consent blackouts exceeds the agency’s authority and could prompt additional blackouts, said NAB in meetings last week with aides to FCC Commissioners Anna Gomez and Nathan Simington, according to…
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an ex parte filing posted Tuesday in docket 23-427. A draft item proposing rules on blackouts is on circulation to the 10th floor. “Given the Commission’s very limited role and its inability to use information on negotiating impasses to require parties to take any additional steps, it is not clear what lawful purpose this information gathering effort can serve,” NAB said. Consumers aren’t likely to consult an FCC database on blackouts, and wouldn't find it useful for comparison shopping MVPD services because it won’t contain information on blackouts of nonbroadcast services such as regional sports networks, NAB said. A database focused on disruptions in service would provide “an incomplete picture given that the overwhelming majority of retransmission consent negotiations are concluded without event,” NAB said. MVPDs will use the database as evidence for regulatory or legislative intervention in the retrans consent negotiation process, NAB said. “There have been documented increases in disruptions during key Congressional or Commission deliberations on retransmission consent issues,” NAB said. “The database will serve as an ‘attractive nuisance’ that MVPDs cannot resist, triggering increased disruptions and harming consumers.”