By Samantha Bookman, FierceOnlineVideo, October 28, 2014
The FCC said it will look at updating rules that regulate cable systems, a move that could allow over-the-top providers to more easily deliver broadcast television over the Internet, rather than over the air or through closed cable systems. Chairman Tom Wheeler circulated a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Tuesday that says MVPDs, like other forms of communication, should be "technology-neutral."
The FCC's new NPRM is raising the hopes of OTT providers like Aereo and FilmOn, which have struggled to convince the courts--and now regulators--that Internet-based video is a medium that's just as viable as cable and should have the same rights to license content as satellite and cable operators do.
In a blog post announcing the proposal, Wheeler cited Congress' 1992 decision that gave satellite services such as DirecTV access to cable channels. "Today I am proposing to extend the same concept to the providers of linear, Internet-based services; to encourage new video alternatives by opening up access to content previously locked on cable channels," Wheeler wrote.
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I assume that Aereo and FilmOn are aware that even if FCC classifies them as MVPDs, they's still have to obtain retransmision consent from broadcasters. Broadcasters have been known of demand rather heafty sums of money. And other goodies such as carrying (and paying license fees for) co-owned non-broadcast channels.
Neal McLain