'Bad Actor Factor' Rule Would Cut Down on Retrans Battles, NAB Says
Adding a "bad actor factor" -- aimed at pay TV deliberately creating retransmission consent conflicts -- to the FCC's evaluation of totality of circumstances assessments of good-faith negotiations might keep some multichannel video programming distributors from ginning up disputes "merely…
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to gain an advocacy foothold at the commission or in Congress," NAB said in an ex parte filing posted Tuesday in docket 10-71. According to the filing, NAB General Counsel Rick Kaplan, in a phone call with Commissioner Ajit Pai's aide Alison Nemeth, said what NAB predicted would happen -- a rise in retrans consent disputes as the FCC considers new rules on good-faith negotiations (see 1507140021) -- is in fact coming to pass. "Since we filed that warning, there have been several impasses or near impasses involving the usual cast of characters -- most notably Dish, DirecTV and Mediacom," NAB said, singling out Mediacom as "the pay TV poster child for self-serving behavior" for among other things its petition before on rules restricting broadcaster blackouts (see 1507070061). In a response to be filed in 10-71, Thomas Larsen, Mediacom senior vice president-government and public relations, took umbrage at calling the petition "widely ridiculed." "We would be interested in seeing support for your claim ... where our petition has been ridiculed by commentators outside a handful of broadcast industry representatives," Larsen said, adding the only publicly filed opposition "came from our organization and five broadcast station owners collectively responsible for over 170 blackouts."