ACA Asks FCC to Enforce DIRECTV Conditions

The American Cable Association (ACA) submitted a letter to the FCC encouraging it to act promptly on the National Cable Television Cooperative’s (NCTC) request for assistance with its negotiations with Fox Cable Networks for the Fox regional sports networks (RSNs).

As a condition of approving the News Corp.-DIRECTV merger, the FCC allowed any multichannel video programming distributor (MVPD) meeting its definition of a small cable company to appoint an agent to bargain collectively on behalf of it and other small MVPDs for carriage of the News Corp.-controlled Fox RSNs. Several weeks ago, NCTC sent a letter to the FCC reporting that Fox Cable Networks was refusing to allow NCTC to review members’ existing agreements for the Fox RSNs.

ACA’s letter notes that “more than two-and-a-half years after News Corp. accepted those conditions … Fox Cable Networks continues to impede our members from appointing NCTC as a bargaining agent for the Fox regional sports networks.”

“It is disheartening that Fox Cable Networks is evading the intent of the FCC by not sharing critical information to which the NCTC must have access in order to act effectively as the bargaining agent for our members,” said Matt Polka, president and CEO of ACA. “ACA spent many hours explaining to the FCC commissioners the need for such conditions, and if this condition is not enforced, the consumers served by small MVPDs will be harmed.”

American Cable Association (ACA) www.americancable.org