Starting back in mid-October of this year (2010), Cablevision subscribers based in the New York area who were tuning into Fox 5 for to view the MLB Postseason, NFL games, news, etc were surprised by what would soon turn into a serious problem: the station had been blacked out. The same issue was experienced on other stations owned by News Corporation—about three million homes serviced by Cablevision lost out on News Corp televised programs due to the two company’s feud over retransmission payments. Since the two sides haven’t been able to come to an agreement over the price, by October 22 Washington had entered the fray in order to seek out a quick resolution.
Both Cablevision and News Corp had tried to gain sympathy from the public since the feud started, by publically throwing dirt at each other; News Corp went as far as to say, ‘…We urge those Cablevision subscribers who want to see the World Series to switch providers or purchase an over the air antenna now’ as News Corp was convinced there would be no agreement before the start of the Fall Classic. The behavior from both companies prompted William T. Lake, chief of the FCC’s media bureau, to remind both parties that they have a “statutory duty to engage in ‘good faith’ negations”, and that if either company believes the other is violating their duty, they should bring it to the FCC’s attention WITH supporting evidence. In addition, the media bureau has asked both parties to submit specific details by October 25th, outlining what each company is doing to end this prolonged blackout.
These requests from the FCC are very significant, since if they’re able to determine that one side or the other isn’t acting in ‘good faith’ towards negations, the FCC can penalize or direct the companies to negotiate in good faith, specifically designed for the good of the consumers, whom are hurt the most by the deadlock. Michael J. Copps, one of the five FCC commissioners, has repeatedly stressed the point during this feud that ‘The FCC is a consumer protection agency, and if the Fox-Cablevision dispute proves anything, it’s that consumers are clearly not being protected… If such talks (good faith negations) aren’t taking place, we (the FCC) should move promptly to protect consumers.’
Though progress between the sides has been severely lacking, talks are highly likely to resume with the ever increasing scrutiny coming from the FCC. **UPDATE AFTER ARTICLE PUBLICATION: The stern warnings from the FCC spoke volumes before any action had to be taken, as Cablevision agreed to News Corp’s terms for retransmission (albeit at lower numbers than what News Corp had originally wanted in the beginning of the conflict) by the end of October.
Original Article Found at:
http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/22/f-c-c-calls-for-good-faith-in-cable-dispute/
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