NAB gears up for another must-carry push

The NAB said broadcasters would consider swapping free air time for political candidates in exchange for a multicast must-carry rule.

Author:: TVTechnology
Publish date:: Sep 1, 2005
Social count:: 0

This time NAB President Eddie Fritts is upping the ante, saying that broadcasters would consider swapping free air-time for political candidates in exchange for a multicast must-carry rule.

Fritts said that Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison, (R-TX), and Olympia Snowe, (R-ME), have agreed to lead efforts for a multicast carriage requirement in the Senate.

In addition, Fritts said Rep. Joe Barton, (R-TX), has made clear that while he opposes a carriage requirement, broadcasters should feel free to lobby other representatives for a House amendment that would require multicast carriage.

Multichannel must-carry has been rejected by the FCC and has yet to gain substantial support in Congress. It is fiercely opposed by the cable television industry.

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Regulatory and Standards

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Regulatory and Standards

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The FCC will again take up cable and satellite carriage of broadcast signals at its next regular meeting July 14. The commission will consider allowing a combination of must-carry and retransmission consent during the rest of the digital transition period, according to FCC sources. Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy, dur

Regulatory and Standards

The exchange of fire over expanded must-carry intensified this week, with the cable lobby going directly to the press while the broadcast lobby returned to the FCC. Meanwhile, parties of both adversarial camps teased regulators through the media by unveiling promising new services they would launch, if a must-carry rul