House Republicans Score Record Number of Responses to Video White Paper

House Republicans received a record number of responses to their sixth Communications Act overhaul white paper -- 220. The white paper that received the next highest number of responses was the very first one a year ago, with 116. The 220 stakeholders weighed in on several video policy overhaul questions in the latest white paper (see 1501230062, 1501260045, 1501270041 and 1502040038). The House Communications Subcommittee had set a January deadline for responses and posted them all Wednesday. They included many community TV stations plus bigger stakeholders such as the American Cable Association, the American Television Alliance, Cox Enterprises, Dish Network, Public Knowledge, TVFreedom and Verizon. The American Television Alliance, which includes many pay-TV industry stakeholders, used its response to press for enactment of Local Choice, a broadcast a la carte proposal: “No price regulation, no blackouts, no threats, and most importantly, no drama for consumers,” the group said. Congress shouldn't have to wait for a comprehensive telecom rewrite to engage in retransmission overhaul, it said. Aereo, which has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, urged Congress to consider several changes. “Even though Aereo itself has permanently ceased all business operations and will no longer exist, we believe that the lessons we learned have helped further the conversation around video reform,” leading to a robust future market, Senior Vice President Virginia Lam wrote. Aereo backed “a regulatory framework that is technology-neutral and allows linear online video providers to compete in parity with incumbent providers.” The multichannel video programming distributor definition doesn’t need to apply to online video services offering “an on-demand or nonlinear channel format,” Aereo said.