Retransmission Consent Rules Under More Attack

The ACA, repping small cable ops, is asking the FCC to change how retrans consent works by basically having hte rules let local market forces determine choice and pricing for carriage of broadcast signals. Rather than have a local station require carriage at the price that local station can get, the ACA wants its members to be allowed to bring in distant (non-local) signals and create competition for the broadcast carriage space.

This effort may not survive a counter-analysis on the importance of 'localism" but it shows how retrans consent is continung to be questioned in a number of areas...with digital multicast must-carry denied by the FCC, the entire broadcast-cable relationship is undergoing change...