PITTSBURGH, October 16, 2010 – “The retransmission consent law has become a federal license for broadcasters to threaten TV station blackouts, actually pull TV station signals and engage in flagrant acts of price discrimination against rural cable customers. This outdated law, passed when Facebook’s famous co-founder was just 8-years-old, is a club used by avaricious media giants to pound pay-TV providers into submission. News Corp. — in a spasm of media power that has left 3 million Cablevision subscribers without regular access to Fox TV signals — has demonstrated for all to see that federal intervention is necessary to protect consumers from the consequences of broadcasters’ darkest tendencies, including the abhorrent practice of charging small cable operators far more per-subscriber than larger pay-TV providers competing in the same local market. By law, Fox is supposed to serve the public interest and not act as an anti-social network.”
About the American Cable Association
Based in Pittsburgh, the American Cable Association is a trade organization representing nearly 900 smaller and medium-sized, independent cable companies who provide broadband services for more than 7.6 million cable subscribers primarily located in rural and smaller suburban markets across America. Through active participation in the regulatory and legislative process in Washington, D.C., ACA’s members work together to advance the interests of their customers and ensure the future competitiveness and viability of their business. For more information, visit https://acaconnects.org/