FCC GOP Members Hot Over Program Contracts Vote

The cat cannot be put back into the bag and the bell cannot be unrung. With those colorful characterizations amidst some tough talk, Federal Communications Commission members Ajit Pai and Michael O'Rielly expressed their disaffection, and registered their official dissent, from the FCC's vote to allow third parties to view commercially sensitive programming contracts provided the FCC as part of its vetting of the Comcast/Time Warner Cable and AT&T/DirecTV merger reviews.

A majority of FCC commissioners voted to allow that third party access, upholding the FCC Media Bureau’s decision rejecting programmer challenges to the third parties seeking access and to the Media Bureau's modification of its protective order to try and assuage programmers concerns. Commissioners Pai and O’Rielly were not happy with either the product or the process.