The cable trade association uses the Fort Wayne, Ind., affiliation confrontation between the two station owners to reassert its push for the FCC to bar owners of TV stations in a market from working together in negotiating for retransmission consent fees from local cable operators. ACA also says Nexstar “as a sign of faith in the merits of its argument that sharing agreements cause harm,” should drop its many other joint retrans negotiations in other markets.
The cable trade group wants an extension of the EAS CAP reception deadline while the commission prepares definitive guidance for cable operators.
ACA Asks FCC To Block Sale of KTKA Topeka
The cable trade group alleges that the ABC-NBC-Fox triopoly resulting from the sale would give New Vision Television undue bargaining power in its retrans negotiations with cable and satellite operators and ultimately drive up cable rates for consumers.
Veteran telecom regulator Mignon Clyburn championed conditions for the Comcast-NBCU license transfers. She will speak at the American Cable Association’s 18th annual gathering in Washington on April 12.
According to a study commissioned by the American Cable Association, which represents small and medium-size cable companies, the merger of the cable operator and NBC Universal will result in consumers will be forced to bear higher costs over the next nine years in fee increases.
