The Parents Television Council (PTC) praised Local Choice,...
The Parents Television Council (PTC) praised Local Choice, a proposal to end TV blackouts that Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., recently circulated. The lawmakers say they want to attach the proposal, which…
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would overhaul retransmission consent rules, to Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act reauthorization legislation. Broadcasters have expressed deep concerns and are expected to lobby against the proposal, and the big cable companies of NCTA have stayed silent (CD Aug 13 p4). “This proposal is a wonderful and important first step for consumer choice,” PTC President Tim Winter said in a statement (http://bit.ly/1nQ9kyV). “Consumers, not the media conglomerates, should decide for themselves which networks they want to purchase and bring into their homes. While the present measure would give consumers choice over the broadcast networks, we hope this will ultimately pave the way for consumers to enjoy greater choice for all of their cable programming.” The PTC is a member of the American Television Alliance (ATVA), which includes several pay-TV operators that have sought to overhaul retransmission consent. “Broadcasters’ opposition shows that they're unwilling to accept even a reasonable solution to our broken retransmission consent system,” an ATVA spokesman told us. “They've complained for years that they don’t get fair market value for their content and this bill provides exactly that. ... This is a simple and elegant solution that should appease both sides and consumers and it can immediately be added to STELA."