WASHINGTON, D.C.—The pay TV operator-back American Television Alliance (ATVA) has issued a statement in support of DirecTV’s complaint filed at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) against Disney.
The DirecTV complaint contends that Disney has violated the FCC’s good faith mandates by predicating any licensing agreement on DirecTV waiving legal claims on Disney’s past, current or future anticompetitive actions – including its ongoing packaging and minimum penetration demands.
“The FCC recently clarified that the one thing you cannot do in retransmission consent negotiations is prevent the other side from filing FCC complaints,” said Michelle Bowling, spokesperson for the American Television Alliance. “This makes sense – without such a rule, broadcasters would never be held accountable for any anticompetitive activity. Yet this is exactly what Disney has done here. And make no mistake: there is anticompetitive activity at the heart of this case. Disney wants MVPDs like DirecTV to carry and pay for all its networks – even the less popular ones – or face financial penalties. MVPD customers are thus forced to pay for the ‘fat bundle’ with no say over what they want or do not want. However, Disney itself will offer its most popular sports programming at cheaper rates, without unwanted networks. That’s wrong – and the courts and regulators should do something about it.”
