WASHINGTON—The Motion Picture Association has filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission urging the agency not to change rules relating to how retransmission consent negotiations are conducted with services like YouTube TV, Hulu Live, and Fubo.
Currently those services (vMVPDs) are not classified as traditional pay TV operators (MVPDs) like Comcast even though they offer very similar packages of channels for a monthly subscription. That means that retransmission consent negotiations with these vMVPDs are conducted by broadcast networks and their parent companies rather than being negotiated by station groups who handle retrans deals with traditional MVPDs.
Broadcast station groups have long argued that they would be able to get higher retransmission fees if they handled the negotiations with vMVPDs.
In a filing made as part of the FCC’s ongoing investigation into the state of competition in the communications marketplace the MPA urged the “the FCC to refrain from intervening in the video marketplace in light of increasing innovation, intermodal competition, and viewer choice.”
The MPA is backed by the major studios as well as Amazon Studios and Netflix Studios that have major interests in the streaming industry,
More specifically, the MPA argued that the “FCC should intervene in the video marketplace only where it has clear legal authority and unequivocal record evidence of market failure. To do otherwise would hinder, rather than help innovation and viewer choice. Today, the marketplace shows abundance and intermodal competition, not clear signs of market failure. Indeed, online services are increasingly providing access to video programming that also remains available on other platforms, a proposition supported by the Public Notice launching this round of comments. From a competition standpoint, examining intermodal competition across broadcast, cable, satellite, telecommunications, and streaming services remains important.”
In addition, the MPA argued that “although streaming services compete with all the other video platforms, the FCC and Congress have both observed that the agency lacks authority to regulate online video services.”
The filing also cited a letter from the previous FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel to Sen. Charles Grassley in March of 2023 stating that “online video programming distributors do not neatly fit in these [multichannel video programming distributor] statutory definitions because they lack a physical connection to subscribers and do not use any electromagnetic frequencies when delivering programming to their viewers” and that “the Commission lacks the power to change these unambiguous provisions.”
That letter cited in the MPA filing also noted “that even if the Commission were to proceed, it would require changes to underlying copyright policies” also outside the FCC’s jurisdiction.
“The filmed entertainment sector continues to deliver content that captivates and caters to the viewing preferences of a wide range of consumers,” the MPA concluded. “The sector is a significant driver of economic opportunities for communities across the nation and enables American consumers to exchange diverse information, ideas, achievements, and culture. But as MPA stated in its 2024 Comments, the video programming marketplace will only continue to thrive if the Commission facilitates a light-touch approach to regulating video services.”
The full filing is available here.
