Most major carriers spend a lot of time complaining about regulation in the telecom sector being akin to puppy murder -- unless of course that regulation can be applied to the other guy. With that in mind, Verizon, Time Warner Cable and Cablevision have petitioned the FCC to step in and do something about the kind of retransmission fee disputes that resulted in Cablevision customers almost missing the Oscars (gasp) over the weekend. Time Warner Cable issued a statement saying they wanted the FCC to impose restrictions ensuring that consumers don't lose channels during these disputes:
Time Warner said it would ask the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to "address skyrocketing consumer costs by establishing a new framework for resolving retransmission consent disputes and ensuring that consumers are not caught in the middle. "Specifically, we plan to ask the FCC to consider arbitration and forcing continuation of carriage during a dispute."
Of course during Time Warner Cable's recent dispute with Fox over the network's desire for a new per-subscriber fee, Time Warner Cable seemed more than willing to "get tough" against broadcasters, even if that meant consumers losing access to channels. As we've been exploring, neither side in these disputes are faultless, and the end result of these disputes winds up being higher TV rates for consumers -- no matter which company "wins." Verizon, Cablevision and Time Warner Cable have some consumer advocate support in their effort to get the FCC to act. Consumer advocacy firm Public Knowledge issued a statement urging the FCC or Congress to "examine the current retransmission consent process and consider whether the system needs adjustments to ensure that viewers are not disenfranchised." Something tells us they're a little late.
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