FCC To Propose Ending Terrestrial Exemption: Source
Loophole Allows Distributors To Withhold Sports Fare
John Eggerton -- Multichannel News, 12/15/2009 1:46:59 PM
The Federal Communications Commission will circulate an order Wednesday proposing to end the terrestrial exemption, an FCC source confirms.
The agency requires satellite-delivered programming owned by MSOs to be made available to competitors, but does not require the same access to terrestrially delivered programming per the so-called "terrestrial loophole."
Critics of the policy say it is a loophole that allows program distributors to withhold sports programming from competitors.
The FCC has been considering what to do, if anything, about the exemption over the past couple of years.
Talkback
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It's long overdue to end the loophole. The original intent of the rule was to encourage small operators to invest in programming without worrying about losing it all to the big providers, but the only ones who hide programming behind it are big companies (such as Comcast).
M. Richards - 12/16/2009 9:29:20 AM EST
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