Martin Tees Up Program Access Rules at FCC

MARTIN TEES UP PROGRAM ACCESS RULES
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
Under proposed rules supported by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin, if HBO gets into a contract dispute with EchoStar, the satellite company would have compulsory access to HBO’s other distribution contracts. The Martin proposal would create an expansive discovery right under the agency’s program access rules, which provide cable’s pay-TV rivals with the ability to license any satellite-delivered network with at least 5% cable operator ownership. The requirement that cable operators must sell certain networks, also called the exclusivity ban, is to sunset on Oct. 5 if not extended by the FCC. Created by 1992 Cable Act, the program access mandates were extended for the first time in July 2002, an effort Martin (then just a commissioner) barely, if not grudgingly, supported. The 2002 vote was 3-1. Had Martin dissented, there would not have been a majority for a five-year extension. Now Chairman Martin is proposing a second five-year extension, giving AT&T, Verizon, DirecTV and EchoStar ongoing distribution rights, for example, to Time Warner’s CNN, Comcast’s Golf Channel, and Cablevision’s Madison Square Garden Network.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6471732.html