Chairman Wheeler: FCC 'Kicking Around' Idea of Making Some OVDs MVPDs

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler was asked to comment on a story that the a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was in the works that would classify linear over-the-top video providers as Multichannel Video Programming Distributors (MVPDs), subject to access to programming as well as the retransmission payment regime.

At a press conference following the FCC's September public meeting, Chairman Wheeler was asked to elaborate on the thinking that went into the "proposal going around." "You guys are good," he said, "and somebody found out that it was an idea that was being kicked around, rather than going around, and that's where it stands." Chairman Wheeler said the FCC considers "a whole heck of a lot of ideas floating around here. You always want to make sure you are keeping up with technology and innovation in the marketplace," and that the "kicking around" of OVDs (online video distributors) as MVPDs fell into that category.