WASHINGTON—The American Television Alliance has reiterated its position asking the FCC to reconsider three separate objections it previously raised to the commission’s ATSC 3.0 Order authorizing Next-Gen TV broadcast service in reply comments filed April 23 with the agency.
ATVA is asking the FCC to issue an order on reconsideration that requires separate negotiations for first-time ATSC 3.0 signal carriage by MVPDs, mandates LPTV and translator stations to simulcast ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 signals and makes stations provide viewers and MVPDs with prior notice before being allowed to degrade their signal format or picture quality.
ATVA originally petitioned the FCC March 5 to reconsider its November 2017 ATSC 3.0 order asking the commission to address the same three issues.
[Read: ATVA Files Petition For Limited Reconsideration of ATSC 3.0 Order]
In this week’s filing, ATVA argued the FCC should not reject its petition for reconsideration, despite its presentation of the same arguments in earlier proceedings, because it “believe[s] that aspects of the ATSC 3.0 Order constitute a ‘material error’….”
The FCC can “grant a petition for reconsideration relying on arguments previously raised, so long as the petitioner demonstrates ‘material error or omission in the original order,’” the filing said. “If the Commission comes to agree with us, no legal barrier prevents it from granting reconsideration.”
In their opposition to the petition for reconsideration, broadcasters have said “marketplace incentives” will prevent them from engaging in the three practices to which ATVA objects. “We have always been highly skeptical of this claim,” the reply comments said.
The reconsideration process gives the FCC the chance “to address these issues despite broadcasters’ promises.”
For a comprehensive source of TV Technology’s ATSC 3.0 coverage, see our ATSC3 silo.
