OTT Commenters: Start Your Search Engines

The Federal Register Thursday published the FCC's proposal to define some linear over-the-top video distributors as MVPDs for the purpose of nondiscriminatory access to programming, which triggers the official comment cycle, with initial comments due Feb. 17 and reply comments due March 2.

There were actually already a trio of comments in the docket at press time, one from a serial filer who has flooded the FCC with filings in multiple dockets, one from an individual and one from a company concerned about the impact of potential new obligations on white spaces devices for rural broadband.

Back in December, the FCC voted to "modernize our interpretation of the term 'multichannel video programming distributor' ('MVPD') by including within its scope services that make available for purchase, by subscribers or customers, multiple linear streams of video programming, regardless of the technology used to distribute the programming."

For the full story go to Multichannel.com.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.