FCC Should Impose Safeguards on ATSC 3.0, Mediacom Says

The current retransmission consent regime gives broadcasters too much power over MVPDs for the FCC to take a hands-off stance in approving ATSC 3.0, Mediacom’s Joseph Young said in a long filing in docket 16-422, with extensive footnotes and references to the novel Catch 22. Broadcasters will exploit their position and “use retransmission consent as a club” to compel MVPDs and consumers to transition to ATSC 3.0 without FCC safeguards, Mediacom said. “It would be a mistake to give broadcasters conditionless permission to innovate around the ATSC standard unless subscribers were also given permission to pay only for the stations they want to buy,” the filing said. “Permission to implement ATSC 3.0 should be granted, but subject to carefully thought-out safeguards against the potential negative consequences for millions of Americans who have no practical choice but to buy whatever broadcasters put on the menu.”