WASHINGTON, D.C.—In response to a growing number of programming blackouts caused by programmers and pay TV operators unable to reach carriage and retransmission consent agreements, the Federal Communications Commission chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has announced proposals that she hopes will help consumers impacted by the blackouts.
The move comes at a time when cord-cutting and the decline of the pay TV ecosystem has produced increasingly acrimonious negotiations between programmers and operators that have produced a number of major blackouts of local stations and TV programming involving Nexstar, DirecTV, Dish, Disney, Charter and others in the last year.
In response, Rosenworcel has shared two Notices of Proposed Rulemaking with her fellow commissioners that would, if adopted by a vote of the full Commission, seek comment on rebates for consumers and requiring notifications to the Commission of blackouts lasting more than 24 hours.
“Enough with the blackouts,” said Rosenworcel in a statement. “When consumers with traditional cable and satellite service turn on the screen, they should get what they pay for. It’s not right when big companies battle it out and leave viewers without the ability to watch the local news, their favorite show, or the big game. If the screen stays dark, they deserve a refund.”
The two related blackout proposals are:
- Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that seeks comment on whether and how to require cable and satellite providers to issue rebates to subscribers in the event of a blackout due to a failure to reach a retransmission consent agreement with broadcast station(s)/group owners.
- A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that seeks comment on a proposal to require Multichannel Video Program Distributors (MVPDs) to notify the Commission via an online public portal when there is a blackout of 24 hours or more of broadcast programming due to a failure to reach a retransmission consent agreement.
