FCC Sets Comment Deadline on Program Access Questions

The Federal Communications Commission has set a for comments on various proposals related to its revision of program access rules, including key proposals backed by the American Cable Association.

On Oct. 5, the FCC voted to sunset its ban on exclusive contracts between MVPDs and co-owned programming networks, complaints about which will now be handled under the existing prohibition on unfair practices. At the same time, and as a way to address the concerns of small cable operators, the commission issued a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking comment on various other possible changes, including a proposal to change the FCC's definition of "buying group" to allow the National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC) to file program access complaints without assuming collective liability for all of its members, and a variety of rebuttable presumptions related to exclusive contracts, both proposals backed by the American Cable Association. Initial comments are due Nov. 30, with replies due Dec. 17.