Stations Band Together To Support Must Carry

Voices for TV Choices, a coalition representing more than 170 TV stations, announced its formation today to lobby for the preservation of the FCC’s must-carry rules.

In an interview Thursday, Peggy Binzel, the new group’s executive director, said coalition members had banded together to try ensure that the must-carry regulations, which stations can use to require local cable TV systems to carry their main channels, don’t get lost in the legislative shuffle as the pay-TV industry lobbies to kill retransmission consent.

Binzel also told TVNewsCheck that the coalition is not planning to lobby for an expansion of must-carry. She also said the group’s mission is not in conflict with that of the National Association of Broadcasters. In fact, many of the coalition’s members are also NAB members, which provided seed money for the coalition, according to a source close to the issue.

Binzel, who is currently a lobbyist for the Podesta Group, was formerly EVP of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association. She also was formerly a lobbyist for News Corp. and Turner Broadcasting.

Among the other members of the group, according to the group’s website (voicesfortvchoices.org) are Ion Media Networks, Trinity Broadcasting Network and OTA Broadcasting.