Sen Kerry outlines bill to resolve TV disputes

Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) unveiled draft legislation to settle retransmission disputes. The legislation would include imposing fines for bad-faith bargaining, standstill agreements and the Federal Communications Commission as mediator, but not arbitrator. The bill would prompt parties who agree they have reached an impasse to submit the situation to the FCC for mediation. The legislation would still allow broadcasters to pull their content, resulting in blacked-out channels, but the rules would make it more difficult for them to do so.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski also voiced frustration with the Cablevision-Fox dispute. "I am deeply troubled that Cablevision and Fox are spending more time attacking each other through ads and lobbyists than sitting down at the negotiating table," he said. "The time for petty gamesmanship is over."

"As history has shown, 99.9 percent of these deals are reached without disruption. We don't have a broken system," said National Association of Broadcasters spokesman Dennis Wharton, "we have a broken pay-TV company that likes to play Washington games. Broadcasters and pay-TV operators share a mutual interest in reaching a fair, market-oriented carriage deal. Only when one party shifts their focus, pleading to government instead of negotiating fairly, does that mutual desire dissolve."