WTA Members Discuss Retransmission Consent Reform with the FCC’s Media Bureau

On Tuesday, Feb. 9, WTA, Northeast Nebraska Telephone Company and Interstate Communications met with the Commission’s Media Bureau to discuss their experiences negotiating for retransmission consent with local commercial broadcast stations in their rural service areas.  WTA, NNTC, and Interstate described the “take it or leave it” style of negotiations and the failure of national network affiliates to negotiate in good faith as required by the Communications Act and the Commission’s rules.  Such failure to negotiate in good faith directly results in unsustainable retransmission consent fees and leads to substantial increases in consumers’ retail cable bills. The parties also discussed the expense and practical utility of filing formal complaints with the Commission and mandatory mediation or arbitration proposals contained in the record, and emphasized the need for the Commission to take steps to increase transparency and consumer choice in the market for video programming.