Barton, Deal to Hold Retrans Roundtable

BARTON, DEAL TO HOLD RETRANS ROUNDTABLE
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
House Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-Texas) is planning to hold a roundtable discussion Thursday afternoon on carriage negotiations between local TV stations and cable and satellite TV operators, also known as retransmission consent, according to industry lobbyists. Rep Barton is expected to host the session along with Rep Nathan Deal (R-GA), who in April withdrew a retransmission-consent-reform proposal -- which was not expected to pass -- in exchange for a Barton-sponsored private industry forum. Rep Deal has for years been concerned that broadcasters have been abusing retransmission consent to force cable to carry unwanted nonbroadcast programming on the expanded-basic tier, causing the package to swell in size and price to the detriment of cable consumers. Rep Barton agreed to hold the forum as a concession to Rep Deal, who wanted to add retransmission-consent provisions to Rep Barton’s telecommunications bill (H.R. 5252), which has cable franchising reform as its centerpiece. Rep Deal, who lacked a committee majority, never offered his amendment. Among other things, the Deal amendment would have allowed any cable or DBS provider to seek arbitration to settle a carriage dispute with a local TV station after a 90-day window of private bargaining. The TV station, which could not pull its signal during arbitration, had to be affiliated with at least one cable network. The session, which is closed to the media, is scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. and go for one hour.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6354450.html?display=Breaking+News