Viacom owns a slew
of networks, no doubt
about it. BET, MTV,
VH1, Nickelodeon, TV
Land, Spike—some
of the biggest brands in cable. They are not, however, broadcast networks, as
characterized by the American Television
Alliance. The ATVA is made up of pay TV
operatives, a few cable networks and lobbies
that include the New America Foundation
and Public Knowledge, among others. They
should—and no doubt do—know better, but
in the campaign to smear broadcasters over
retransmission consent, there are no limits
to the chicanery. A July 12 press release
from the ATVA about Viacom’s DirecTV
blackout starts out thus:
“This week blackouts have been a
perfect example of broadcasters leaving
viewers in the dark with no place to turn.
At times of a retransmission consent
dispute, broadcasters have been quick to tell
viewers that they can change their program
distributor to receive content that’s been
pulled… The truth of the matter is, viewers
are left with no place to turn when blackouts
affect programming by multiple distributors.”
This is pure hogwash. The truth of the
matter is, A) Viacom networks are not
subject to retrans consent, and B) when
broadcasters pull their signals from cable
or satellite systems, the majority of viewers
can still receive those signals over the
air. ATVA convolutes the Viacom-DirecTV
stalemate into a broadcaster issue by saying
the company “once, too, benefitted from the
retransmission consent regime.”
Seriously? CBS and Viacom split more
than six years ago.
The ATVA says the availability of the
Viacom networks or lack thereof “further
emphasizes the point that switching services
is not the solution, because every other
distributor, large and small, faces the same
problem.”
Wrong, again. Broadcasters are
distributors.
I get that the battle over retrans consent
is pitched, but the ATVA’s acrobatics are a
new low.