Clyburn, Rosenworcel Say FCC Could Act on CBS/TWC Dispute, as Satellite Streamlining Order OK'ed

Two of the FCC’s three members are concerned about the retransmission consent blackout of CBS programming on Time Warner Cable systems, they said after Friday’s monthly meeting where a satellite streamlining item was adopted. The commission is “actively monitoring the status of this particular dispute” and is in touch with both parties, said Acting FCC Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn at a news conference. “But this is day seven and, quite frankly, I'm deeply disappointed that the parties seem to be unable to reach a retransmission agreement.”

Clyburn is “distressed that consumers and viewers are being adversely affected, and my primary concern remains with them,” she told reporters. Clyburn also said that she will continue to urge the parties to resolve, in good faith, the issue as soon as possible: “I am ready to consider appropriate action if this dispute continues."

Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said the impact on consumers “is not right.” They're “collateral damage in the dispute between these two companies,” she told us. “If the parties can’t reach resolution, the FCC should use its ‘good faith’ authority under the law to help bring an end to this disagreement, and prevent long blackouts like this from happening again.” The office of Commissioner Ajit Pai declined to comment.

Time Warner Cable agrees with Clyburn “that consumers are being adversely affected,” said a TWC spokesman. “We hope that CBS soon will come to a reasonable agreement with us that is fair to our customers and their viewers.” CBS had no immediate comment.

The FCC’s ability to resolve the dispute is limited, wrote Stifel Nicolaus analysts in an email to investors. However, Clyburn’s comments “do add to the pressure on both sides to negotiate a solution, which we believe will increase the closer we get to the beginning of the NFL regular season and new prime-time shows in September,” they said. An agency review is possible, particularly if it receives a formal complaint, “but its ability to resolve specific disagreements over the price and packaging of programming is limited,” they said. “A negotiated solution still seems way more likely to us than a regulatory solution.” The commission has “sat on the sidelines for too long,” said the American Television Alliance, with members including Time Warner Cable. Consumers will continue to be harmed “until the retransmission consent process matches up with today’s video marketplace,” said ATVA in a written statement. “The FCC needs to act now so these problems don’t continue to plague consumers."

Also at the meeting, the FCC adopted an order that it said modernizes and streamlines Part 25 rules governing satellite communications. The order eliminates unneeded technical and information filing requirements, updates rules to better accommodate evolving technology, simplifies existing requirements, said staff from the International Bureau. The new rules will “expedite both earth and space station license processing and better enable the commission to perform its critical role in assessing interference potential of proposed operations,” said bureau Chief Mindel De La Torre.

The item modifies more than 150 provisions in Part 25 and adopts most of the changes proposed in a previous NPRM (CD Oct 1 p10). It’s intended to increase the number of earth station applications eligible for routine and streamlined processing, and it “reinforces emergency contact reporting requirements while consolidating requirements for annual reporting and removing unnecessary reporting rules,” said the FCC in a news release Friday (http://bit.ly/14dU6Kg).

Satellite service can be offered in areas where there is no terrestrial infrastructure and the costs of deploying a fiber or microwave network are prohibitive, said Clyburn. She credited fixed and mobile satellite services with offering temporary solutions in the aftermath of emergency situations. The changes to Part 25 rules include updating filing requirements for space and earth stations to reflect evolving technology and providing greater flexibility to earth station license applicants in complying with rules on antenna performance, she said. Overhauling the requirements for annual reporting, licensing and filing “should lead to substantial reductions in the administrative costs necessary to offer satellite services,” she added. “This, in turn, should lead to greater investment in enhanced benefit for consumers.”

The changes eliminate outdated requirements and restrictions, said Rosenworcel. They increase transparency, she said. “But above all, they simplify our satellite operating policies.” That should mean “more speed with applications before this agency, swifter deployment of new services to the public and greater opportunities for innovation and investment in the satellite industry,” she said.

The end result of the order is a modernized framework “that better reflects today’s technology and marketplace,” said Pai. He hopes a forthcoming further NPRM will consider other proposals, “such as Orbcomm’s recommendation to let the Federal Aviation Administration determine whether certain cargo-tracking devices can be safely operated aboard civil aircraft,” said Pai. He urged the commission to begin the rulemaking in the near term.