Rutledge, Pyne, Moore Tapped For Video Competition Hearing

House Energy & Commerce Committee will hear witnesses Oct. 22

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 10/19/2009 1:36:45 PM

The House Energy & Commerce Committee has lined up its witnesses for an Oct. 22 hearing on video competition--on TV as well as online.

According to sources the witnesses will be Cablevision COO Tom Rutledge; Benjamin Pyne, president Global Distribution, for Disney Media Networks; Terrence Denson, VP, corporate marketing, for Verizon; Patrick Knorr, COO, Sunflower Broadband (past chairman of the American Cable Association); Adam Thierer, new head of the Progress & Freedom Foundation; and Writers Guild of America member Ronald D. Moore (Battlestar Galactica).

No word on why the hearing was scheduled directly opposite the FCC's Oct. 22, 10 a.m., public meeting on proposed new network neutrality rules, which could also have serious implications for online content delivery. A 10 a.m. start time is customary for subcommittee hearings, but they have been known to start in the afternoon as well.