McSlarrow: Comcast/NBCU Merger Won't Change Big Cable's Approach To Retrans

National Cable & Telecommunications Association President Kyle McSlarrow says that the Comcast/NBCU merger (Comcast is an NCTA member) isn't going to change the association's approach to the issue of retransmission consent, which is that it should be a voice in the debate. Asked that question following a speech at the Media Institute Wednesday, McSlarrow pointed out that when he first came on board, NCTA had a position of "just not playing in retransmission consent." He said his view was that "we are always safer on the side of letting the marketplace work and that retransmission consent is actually a very highly regulatory regime that ought to be reformed." He has often pointed out the must-carry is a government thumb on the scale of what ought to be a free market negotiation.