D.C. Memo: Did FCC Just Signal Big Policy Shift in Regulation of Video Streamers?
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Streaming: Federal regulators just signaled they might be receptive to a major shift in video regulation, including new authorization for TV stations to collect carriage fees directly from online platforms like YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV. The potential breakthrough emerged Friday in a unanimous order in which the FCC said cable and satellite TV operators had to report when a breakdown in carriage negotiations caused the blackout of TV stations on their pay-TV platforms. In a footnote to the order, the FCC made two significant disclosures: One saying online providers like YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV would be exempt from the reporting requirements, and a second saying the legal underpinning for the exemption — whether online providers of local TV signals were required to negotiate carriage deals directly with stations — "remains an open question." The FCC's suggestion that the legal status of vMVPDs — short for "virtual" Multichannel Video Programming Distributors — was in legal limbo was a big departure from clear pronouncements on the same subject by FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel in Capitol Hill testimony and in a letter to Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa). Both times Rosenworcel insisted a new law was needed for the FCC to act to reclassify vMVPDs, clearly ruling out any wiggle room in current law. Full story is here.
