D.C. Memo: NAB CEO Visits FCC's Gomez on Regulating YouTube TV
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FCC: The National Association of Broadcasters isn’t hiding its frustration. The chief lobbying arm for America's radio and TV stations has under performed under FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. In the past year alone, Democrat Rosenworcel has tightened local radio and TV station ownership rules and revived a long-dormant station workforce composition form with a new "non-binary" gender option to be made public, both triggering litigation. But NAB's biggest beef is not with what the FCC has done but with what it has not done — and that means Rosenworcel's refusal to classify YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV as cable TV operators (or Multichannel Video Programming Distributors). "How is it that the FCC has not examined this issue in earnest since 2014, when it first proposed, for example, to modernize the definition of multichannel video programming distributor (MVPD) to include virtual MVPDs?" NAB said in an Oct. 3 meeting with Democratic FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez that included NAB President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt. This was NAB’s second run at Gomez on this issue since last November.

If the online streamers became cable TV operators under the law, TV stations would be allowed to bargain with Google and Disney for carriage on their virtual MVPD platforms. Now, the Big Four networks do the bargaining and decide how much of the revenue to split with their 600 affiliates. (Nexstar Media Group CEO Perry Sook has called giving the Big Four that power a “big mistake.”) The change would also block the Big Four from removing every network affiliate from a streaming platform in a flash — something Disney did on Sept. 1 to the ABC affiliates carried on DIRECTV Stream. NAB told Gomez that the FCC needed a new approach. "During the conversation, NAB emphasized that it is critical the FCC study the impact video streaming has had on local television broadcasting. It is impossible to understand the demands local stations face without coming to grips with the sea change wrought by streaming," said Rick Kaplan, NAB's Chief Legal Officer and Executive Vice President, in the filing. FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, a Republican, has said broadcasters were facing a "break glass" moment as regulated entities by the FCC under threat by unregulated Big Tech players. Rosenworcel has said that if YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV are to be deemed cable operators, Congress needed to change the law. The Preserve Viewer Choice Coalition issued a statement supporting the regulatory status quo. "Despite assertions by some to the contrary, the FCC has consistently reinforced their lack of authority to upend the streaming marketplace in the way that the big affiliate groups seek – a fact that bipartisan members of Congress have echoed," the group said. "Polling shows that few Americans support more streaming regulations. We commend the FCC for their fact-based assessment of the streaming marketplace."