FSF: Video Blackout Rebates a Lopsided Fix
Today's video distribution marketplace is working efficiently, with multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) lacking undue market power and facing growing competition, Free State Foundation Senior Fellow Andrew Long wrote Thursday. The idea of rules applying exclusively to traditional MVPDs "cannot…
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withstand even the slightest scrutiny," he added. Virtual MVPDs aren't subject to the FCC's proposed programming blackout rebate requirement and are outside the scope of the Stop Sports Blackouts Act. If that bill (see 2501310062) becomes law, it would hasten MVPD subscriber losses and "further tilt the regulatory status quo toward ascendant streaming options, and lead to less competition overall," Long said. He added that the FCC's proposed blackout rebate would also make distributors the automatic responsible party and incentivize programmers to ramp up their demands more than they would otherwise.