Television Viewers, Retransmission Consent, and the Public Interest

On November 17, the Senate Communications, Technology, and the Internet Subcommittee held a hearing on television viewers, retransmission consent, and the public interest.

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) blasted the media industry at a hearing on broadcast television retransmission consent.

According to a copy of his prepared testimony, News Corp. President Chase Carey will tell a Senate Subcommittee that if the government modifies retransmission consent laws, local news on broadcast TV could be eliminated and high-value sports and entertainment content will migrate from broadcasting to cable.

According to testimony to be delivered Nov 17 at a Senate subcommittee hearing, cable operators will hammer the point that current federal laws advantage broadcasters in programming carriage negotiations.

Few things are more frustrating to a former Congressman than to see a law he sponsored twisted in a way that undermines its intended purposes. Unfortunately, this is precisely what has happened during the last few years with the 1992 Cable Act, and in particular, with the provisions Jack Fields sponsored dealing with "retransmission consent."

The National Taxpayers Union (NTU) has advised the Senate Communications Subcommittee not to focus on "rearranging the regulatory deck chairs" in its hearing this week on retransmission consent, but instead to look at more comprehensive reform.

Nothing official yet, but the Senate Commerce Committee's Communications subcommittee will hold a hearing on the rules for television retransmission negotiations that have at times left viewers without access to certain TV channels. Look for it to be scheduled Nov. 17.