Chairwoman Rosenworcel Signals FCC Won’t Apply Cable Act Rules to Streamers

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel sent a clear signal to Congress she is not looking to apply multichannel video programming distributor (MVPD) regulations to streaming video services, and that she does not think the regulator has the authority to expand into that area in any event. Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-CA), whose state is the major player on both the creative and tech sides of streaming, posed the question to the chairwoman in his questioning. He said that one of the things that had “really changed” in video delivery was the advent of streaming services and that, as a result, “questions have arisen” about the FCC’s ability to regulate online video distributors as they do traditional MVPDs. Those include rules program access and carriage regulations. By phrasing the question as whether she intended to regulate them in “the same way,” he left Chairwoman Rosenworcel some wiggle room to regulate them in a different way. Her answer, though it was indirect, left the clear impression she was not looking to regulate online video services, though.