FCC Should Reject Pay-TV ATSC 3.0 Criticisms, Says NAB

The FCC should reject requests from pay-TV groups to “impose additional regulatory burdens” on the ATSC 3.0 transition, NAB told aides to Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Mike O'Rielly in a meeting Wednesday, said an ex parte filing in docket 16-142. Inquiries into capacity issues for multichannel video programming distributors and other questions raised by the American Cable Association and the American Television Alliance (see 1702090057) aren't necessary for “a voluntary transition that does not require MVPDs to carry programming transmitted using the Next Gen standard,” NAB said. The FCC also shouldn't intervene in retransmission consent negotiations over ATSC 3.0, the broadcast association said. “If ACA’s members are aggrieved by specific actions during their negotiations, they are free to allege a violation of the Commission’s good faith negotiation standard and prove that claim on a fact-specific basis,” said the broadcaster group. “Instead, ACA asks the Commission to put a regulatory thumb on the scale to benefit cable companies by prejudging private contractual negotiations. That is not the Commission’s role.”