NCTA: Rebuttable Presumptions Would Be De Facto Extension of Program Access

As the FCC prepares to vote on extension or sunset of the
program access rules -- it has an Oct. 5 deadline -- the National Cable and
Telecommunications Association Wednesday was making its case against what it
called a last-ditch effort by those trying to get the FCC to retain the rules.

FCC chairman Julius Genachowski had circulated a draft order
sunsetting the rules, but retaining some protections for access to regional
sports networks through case-by-case application of the rule against unfair or
deceptive practices.

But fans of retaining the ban on exclusive contracts between
distributors and their co-owned networks, including the American Cable
Association, DirecTV and US Telecom, have been pushing for modifications that
would expand those protections and extend them to entertainment programming
through rebuttable presumptions that the withholding of various programming is
unfair and deceptive.

In a filing with the FCC on Wednesday, NCTA said that if the
FCC goes that route and "prejudge in favor of competing MVPDs virtually
all of the key issues relevant to assessing the competitive impact of an
exclusive contract," it would be tantamount to retaining the ban.

NCTA said there was no justification for adopting special
presumptions on withholding the top 20 cable-affiliated programming networks,
or for presuming that withholding a regional sports net (RSN) is unfair and
hinders competition, or that a successful complaint presumes the success of a
future complainant, or presuming that a complainant seeking a standstill is
going to merit one, or for putting a shot clock on complaints. All those have
been proposed and were said to be under consideration by FCC staffers.

According to an FCC source, the general counsel's office has
concerns that if the FCC wants to caveat the sunset with a host of presumptions
and new elements, it will need to do so in a separate proceeding. NCTA agrees.

"There is no basis for adopting any of the proposals in
US Telecom's letter because there has not been adequate notice that the
Commission was considering them nor has there been an adequate record developed
to support them," the trade group said in its filing.

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.