ACA To Take Aim at FCC After Sinclair/Mediacom Retrans Deal

ACA TO TAKE AIM AT FCC AFTER SINCLAIR/MEDIACOM RETRANS DEAL
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Matthew Polka, President of the American Cable Association, which represents smaller and mid-sized cable operators, says the group is preparing to issue a statement expressing its displeasure with the FCC and calling for Congressional action on retransmission consent. "FCC has completely abdicated its public authority to regulate retransmission consent for the benefit of consumers," Polka said, arguing that a recent deal involving Mediacom was a case not of the marketplace working, but of Sinclair leveraging "every benefit of federal rules to the detriment of consumers." He said that the retransmission consent process unfairly disadvantages his member companies, but more importantly the subscribers to those companies, because they wind up paying more than the subscribers of big cable companies like Time Warner, with which Sinclair struck a deal just before Mediacom, but without pulling any stations from its systems to get the deal done.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6413581.html?display=Breaking...

See also --
* Commisso: ‘Industry Has Major Issues’
The cable-television industry must seek significant changes in laws governing relationships with broadcasters, the chairman of Mediacom Communications said Monday.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6413340.html?display=Breaking+News