Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., asked...

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., asked GAO to examine the impact that broadcast joint sales agreements (JSAs) and shared services agreements (SSAs) have upon consumers. “I have long had concerns about the public interest of weakening the existing media ownership rules,” said his letter made public Tuesday. “I believe the FCC should act with caution in this area and not make changes to the media ownership rules unless the agency can demonstrate clearly that localism, independence, and diversity of views will be advanced by any changes made to the rules.” Rockefeller asked GAO to determine the extent to which broadcasters are participating in JSAs and SSAs, what impact such agreements have on competition, whether they inflate retransmission consent fees and overall costs, and whether such agreements are increasing the costs that consumers incur for pay-TV programming, among other questions. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski recently paused a draft order that would relax media cross-ownership rules to give the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council time to study the impact of waivers, allowing common ownership of stations and daily newspapers, on minority and women-owned broadcasters (CD Feb 27 p1). The American Television Alliance (ATVA) and the American Cable Association (ACA) commended Rockefeller for requesting the study. ATVA said: “These types of arrangements may lead to more retransmission consent disputes and cause consumers more harm when multiple broadcast stations are pulled during such disputes. Further, these arrangements may cost consumers more money in the end.” ACA President Matthew Polka said he’s optimistic “the GAO will validate ACA’s claims that broadcast stations are engaging in widespread anti-competitive coordination designed to extract excessive retransmission consent compensation from pay-TV providers as compared to broadcasters that negotiate individually.”