Cable, Satellite Ops Seek Congressional Review of Retrans

After reaching out to the Federal Communications Commission, the cable industry is now asking Congress for help with retransmission disputes.

According to a copy of a letter being sent to the House and Senate Commerce Committees from Time Warner, Cablevision, Dish, DirecTV, Cablevision, the American Cable Association and others, cable and satellite operators want the committees to take a new look at the Cable Act and retransmission consent in light of what they say is the current imbalance in favor of broadcasters and a "broken system" in need of repair. Citing the retrans fights between Cablevision and ABC and the loss of WABC programming "temporarily" to 3 million consumers (something on the order of 18.5 hours), they said that the balance of power that existed in 1992 has shifted and it is consumers who are caught in the crosshairs. The companies, which are mostly the same ones signing onto a petition asking the FCC to "fix" retrans as well, say that there is a difference between asking the government to step into negotiations for cable channels and TV stations. That difference, they say, is "the unique government benefits and privileges conferred on broadcasters that preclude the normal give and take of private contractual negotiations." They say those include guaranteed basic tier carriage, exclusivity and blackout rules as well as must-carry.