Kerry Pushes FCC to Step Into DirecTV/Sunbeam Dispute
John Eggerton -- Multichannel News, 1/20/2012 3:04:02 PM
Most retransmission-consent deals in the latest round have come without blackouts, but the Sunbeam/DirecTV impasse has drawn a letter from Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) to the FCC, asking the agency to step in.
Kerry also wants commission to complete the retrans rulemaking prompted partly by earlier, high-profile blackouts that drew Congressional attention.
In a letter to FCC chairman Julius Genachowski, Kerry, who has weighed in on the issue at the commission before, opined that if the team is not yet penned in for that appointment, but just barely.
Kerry said that he did not know the terms of the proposals or the reason for the impasse, but said that in the interests of his constituents, he wants the chairman to "immediately and personally" ask DirecTV and Sunbeam to reach a deal and restore WHDH Boston (and WSVN Miami) to DirecTV, saying he continues to hear from families who are the "collateral damage" in retrans disputes. "No one wants to see this trend continue," he said, "but I fear these confrontations will only continue to reach their peaks abound the 'must see' live events that matter so much to consumers."
DirecTV's Boston-area DirecTV subs could be facing a blackout of NBC's Super Bowl XLVI telecast on Feb. 5, which could involve the New England Patriots should they beat the Baltimore Ravens in the NFL's AFC title matchup this Sunday, if the dispute is not resolved by then.
This Sunday, Jan. 22, Sunbeam is allowing DirecTV to broadcast the NFL's NFC title tilt between the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers, even as the two parties remain deadlocked over retransmission-consent fees. Sunbeam pulled Miami's WSVN, the local Fox affiliate, along with Boston's NBC affiliate WHDH and WLVI (CW) stations from the top DBs provider at midnight on Jan. 13. DirecTV says the station owner is asking for a 300% hike in fees, while Sunbeam has said it is seeking only what other pay-TV providers pay.
The chairman's office had no comment on Kerry's ask onJan. 20, but Genachowski has historically expressed the commission's reluctance to get into the middle of retrans disputes while urging the parties to do their best to come to an agreement for the sake of viewers.
Kerry pointed out that it was the third year in a row he has contacted the FCC about a retrans dispute, and urged it to complete its pending rulemaking on retrans reform.
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I sent the following e-mail to the FCC and copied Senator Kerry's office: The three entities, Sunbeam Broadcasting, DirecTV and NBC, locked in a battle over re-broadcasting fees, are ignoring (and perhaps even eviscerating)their obligation to serve the public interest as embodied in their FCC licenses, by cutting off access to programming for significant segments of their markets. As one of many DirectTV customers in the Boston metro area with equipment provided by DirecTV that does not support an OTA antenna, I am precluded from receiving NBC programming so long as these oligarchical broadcasters continue their standoff. As the FCC is the sole regulatory agency chartered with serving the public interest in Broadcasting and ensuring that licensees serve that interest, why has your agency not acted to protect the public from being held hostage to sheer pecuniary interests of these companies?
Ralph Hirsch - 1/23/2012 11:38:05 AM EST -
I wrote to the FCC chainperson and basically he told me via one of his reps that it was out of his hands and we are left at the mercy of DTV and Sunbeam....Why in Gods name are we paying these FCC salaries? We've lost ch 7 and 56 for over a week and we the customers have been put in the middle. I;ve already cancelled DTV and will never watch another sunbeam channel agan.
Frank Samanilli - 1/21/2012 10:52:23 AM EST
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