By Steve Donohue, FierceCable, January 16, 2014
| Cable subscribers shouldn't be forced to buy basic-cable | programming packages containing local broadcast channels, National | Cable & Telecommunications Association CEO Michael Powell said at a | House Communications and Technology Subcommittee hearing on | Wednesday. | | Powell's stance is noteworthy, considering Comcast, NCTA's largest | member, relies on basic cable distribution for its NBC owned-and- | operated TV stations. | | "It should be an extraordinary circumstance in which the government | tells the consumer you have to buy a television package as a | prerequisite of buying more of what you want, which is essentially | what the rule does," Powell testified, according to a report from | TVNewsCheck. | | Pay TV distributors such as DirecTV have blamed increased | retransmission-consent fees that broadcasters are demanding on rate | hikes it has announced for its programming packages. The satellite | TV provider, which dropped The Weather Channel earlier this week | after failing to agree to terms of a new contract, has said that it | wanted to reduce the license fee it pays TWC in order to cover the | costs for increased retrans fees. | | In October, Comcast began testing a low-cost bundle of services | that included broadband and HBO. But while the MSO isn't requiring | subscribers to take expanded basic packages that include networks | such as USA Network and Discovery Channel, its bundle does include | broadcast basic programming.
Continued:
Before becoming CEO of the NCTA, Michael Powell served as an FCC Commissioner (1997-2001 and as FCC Chairman (2001-05). He is the son of General Colin Powell.
Neal McLain