FCC Proposes OTT Reclassification

The Federal Communications Commission has voted unanimously -- three Democratic "yes" votes, two Republican "concurrences" -- to propose reclassifying linear over-the-top (online) video providers as MVPDs (traditional pay-TV), at least for the purposes of access to vertically integrated programming. The item will likely not be released until December 19, 2014, along with the commissioner statements. In essence the vote launches the process of figuring out how to treat online video services that emulate traditional ones -- linear day and date channel lineups.