Small and mid-size cable operators asked lawmakers to examine how...
Small and mid-size cable operators asked lawmakers to examine how carriage deals may affect the digital transition. House Telecom Subcommittee Chairman Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Ranking Member Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., were asked in a Monday letter by American Cable…
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Association President Matt Polka to “inquire” how such deals “in the months leading up to the DTV transition” could affect the switch. With many retransmission consent agreements between cable operators and broadcasters set to expire by Dec. 31, ACA worries about “mass confusion” among viewers if the industries can’t reach new accords, he said. Impasses in negotiations could lead broadcasters to pull their signals off cable, meaning “consumers will be unaware whether or not their lost channels are the result of the DTV transition” or other factors, wrote Polka. NAB said ACA’s connection of carriage deals and DTV is “desperate” and policymakers shouldn’t be “fooled” by the tactic. Carriage talks work “exactly as Congress intended,” said an NAB spokesman.