Submitted: February 13, 2008 - 10:30am
Last updated: February 21, 2008 - 12:06pm
ACA: A LA CARTE WOULD BE STATUS QUO
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
Big cable programmers shouldn't have a worry if the Federal Communications Commission adopts so-called wholesale a la carte rules because many content owners claim they make their channels available in that manner today, the American Cable Association said Tuesday. “Many programmers say they already offer channels on a stand-alone basis. ACA’s proposals would simply codify this practice, and give a remedy in case stand-alone channels were not offered on reasonable terms,” ACA told the FCC in a filing. “As programmers and broadcasters claim they already do this, they should have no legitimate objection to the [FCC’s] incorporating this into its regulations.” ACA which represents 1,100 cable companies with 8 million customers has been battling Viacom, The Walt Disney Co. and other big programmers for many years on the wholesale distribution of cable programming. Small MSOs complain that the bundling of channels, also called tying, forces them to buy more programming than they want and pass along unwanted costs to unhappy consumers. http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6531815.html?nid=4262
* NAB Tells FCC Retrans Regime Is Working
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: ]
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) told the FCC Wednesday that it should not expand its inquiry into program tying and bundling into a "wide ranging attack on the retransmission consent process," and that broadcaster negotiations for carriage of channels rather than cash is the free market at work. http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6531829.html?rssid=193
