New Set-Top Plan Must Respect Contract Terms, NAB Says

The FCC's apps-based set-top plan mustn't allow rewriting “any terms or conditions contained in programming contracts between broadcasters and multichannel video programming distributors,” NAB said in a letter posted in docket 16-42 Friday. Ex parte filings by programmers have suggested the set-top proposal being pursued by the FCC could involve the commission in a licensing regime to allow third-party set-top makers access to MVPD content (see 1608240064). “NAB cannot support any order where the Commission creates an ongoing ability to review or modify broadcaster contracts through the licensing process,” it said. “Any such provision undermines the Commission’s stated goals of protecting content, respecting copyright and avoiding third-party casualties in its quest to generate a competitive set-top box marketplace.” The initial FCC plan explicitly said it wouldn't interfere with existing contracts between programmers and MVPDs, and its latest plan should follow the same directive, NAB said. “The tasks of developing the terms and conditions of the license and determining whether an entity is compliant with the license must be at the exclusive discretion of the licensing body itself,” NAB said. “Any other outcome would necessarily involve the Commission in the interpretation of contractual terms and determinations of which terms should or should not be honored by competing applications. This is unacceptable.” Tech groups also lobbied last week on the NPRM (see 1609020031).