Setting Up Shop in D.C.
MacKinnon Lobbies For TWC
by Ted Hearn -- Multichannel News, 9/28/2008 8:00:00 PM
Washington — When Time Warner Cable splits off from its Time Warner Inc. corporate parent, cable industry veteran Gail MacKinnon will head the new cable company’s federal lobbying office in Washington, D.C.
Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt turned to MacKinnon to anchor the Washington office just a few weeks after the news hit in late April that Time Warner Inc. no longer wanted to own cable systems.
“We will be two separate companies and Glenn Britt wants his own [D.C.] office,” MacKinnon said in a recent interview.
MacKinnon was a logical choice. She had been overseeing Time Warner Inc.’s cable lobbying efforts since late 2006 under Carol Melton, the company’s executive vice president for global public policy.
“Gail is a real pro. She combines a deep knowledge of the industry with great leadership and advocacy skills, all of which will continue to serve Time Warner Cable and the broader industry very well in the coming months and years,” said National Cable & Telecommunications Association president Kyle McSlarrow.
In her new role, MacKinnon said her goal was to ensure that Time Warner Cable remained a key player in shaping public policy that directly affects the company and industry.
“My approach is that Time Warner Cable will be very proactive in Washington … working closely with our trade association, engaging in direct lobbying and then just coalition building,” MacKinnon said.
Time Warner Cable is the country’s second-largest cable company, with 13.3 million subscribers. But it’s also a major player in the high-speed Internet access business, serving 8.1 million subscribers. And the MSO has helped shatter the Baby Bell local phone monopoly by signing up 3.4 million digital phone customers.
The two companies cannot split until the Federal Communications Commission approves license transfers essential to the transaction.
FCC chairman Kevin Martin has met with Britt and Time Warner Inc. CEO Jeff Bewkes separately to discuss the deal, which the companies hope to wrap up by the end of the year.
“I think that’s the objective,” MacKinnon said.
Records of Martin’s meetings didn’t indicate whether he would try to hold up the separation until Time Warner Cable promised to allow its subscribers to buy channels on an a la carte basis. For nearly four years, Martin has been pressing cable to unbundle its programming packages.
“We’ve been given no signals to that effect,” MacKinnon said. “Our view is that this is a routine transaction.”
MacKinnon acknowledged that Martin’s hostility toward cable related to channel bundling issues has produced “a very challenging environment.”
After finding a new office suite and recruiting her own staff, MacKinnon has to figure out the strategy if Congress tries to pass net neutrality legislation that handcuffs high-speed Internet access providers.
She’s also worried Congress might go too far in restricting cable companies’ ability to compete in the online advertising market.
“I’ve seen it referred to as a $20 billion market. Clearly, it’s a business we want to be in,” she said.
In 2009, the Satellite Home Viewer Extension Reauthorization Act (SHVERA) will be up for renewal in Congress. Must-pass legislation could give cable an opportunity to get lawmakers to focus on retransmission-consent payments demanded by local TV stations and the legal requirement that cable subscribers buy local TV stations first.
“I see the [SHVERA] as potentially being a vehicle for discussion of retransmission consent,” MacKinnon said.
MacKinnon has the experience to deal with cable’s toughest problems. She got her start as an aide to former Rep. Jack Fields (R-Texas), chairman of the House Telecommunications Subcommittee, helping him draft the landmark Telecommunications Act of 1996.
In the private sector, MacKinnon has held senior lobbying positions with Turner Broadcasting, Tele-Communications Inc., CBS, Viacom, and NCTA for McSlarrow.
“Since her days helping [Rep.] Fields rewrite the Communications Act, Gail has been at the center of the action. She has an amazing combination of substantive knowledge and political skills,” said Walt Disney Co. executive vice president of worldwide government relations Preston Padden.
MacKinnon — whose husband Jeff is a prominent communications lobbyist in a firm that represents Comcast, NCTA and Microsoft — hasn’t wasted any time building a staff.
Joining her from Time Warner Inc. are lawyers Steven Teplitz, an aide to former Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) and Rachel Welch, a former top Democratic aide on the Senate Commerce Committee. The newest hire is Cristina Pauze, media legal advisor to Republican FCC member Robert McDowell.
In a change, Time Warner Cable has also put MacKinnon in charge of the company’s state regulatory affairs. TWC has video subscribers in 4,500 communities in 33 states.
In July, the company announced that Gary Matz was relocating from Stamford, Conn., to Washington, D.C., to oversee state legislative and regulatory affairs under MacKinnon.
“We feel it is very important for Time Warner Cable the company to be speaking with one voice on policy issues of the state local federal levels,” MacKinnon said.
She might do a bit more hiring but not until after the November elections.
“We’re going to be lean and mean,” MacKinnon said.
