PITTSBURGH, August 8, 2014 – American Cable Association President and CEO Matthew M. Polka issued the following statement regarding a bipartisan legislative proposal by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and Ranking Member Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) to end local TV station blackouts and expand consumer choice in the receipt of local broadcast television stations from cable and satellite TV providers:
“ACA believes that Sen. Rockefeller and Sen. Thune, acting in a bipartisan fashion on an important consumer welfare issue, deserve the highest praise for offering a legislative proposal designed to advance the public interest in the receipt of over-the-air local broadcast stations from pay-TV providers.
“The approach taken by Sens. Rockefeller and Thune is to put consumers first. It will permanently remove consumers from retransmission consent disputes and provide consumers with more choice in the selection of TV station programming than they have seen in decades.
“The independent cable community looks forward to giving Sens. Rockefeller and Thune feedback on their bold and necessary proposal to make it ready to become the law of the land this year.”
About the American Cable Association: Based in Pittsburgh, the American Cable Association is a trade organization representing about 850 smaller and medium-sized, independent cable companies who provide broadband services for nearly 7 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/