One Ministries Calls for Streamer Reclassification

The FCC should refresh the record on reclassifying streamers as MVPDs, said One Ministries in a letter to the FCC posted in docket 14-261 Monday. “To truly preserve viewer choice entails granting must-carry rights to independent TV stations on any streaming service that carries another local TV station in the same TV market,” said One Ministries. One Ministries endorsed a recent Writers Guild of America West report that condemns large streaming companies such as Disney, Netflix and Amazon as “gatekeepers” and asked lawmakers and agencies to block streaming consolidation, investigate anti-competitive issues, and increase regulation for streamers: “It is unfair for vMVPDs to both control streaming services and major networks and content and to purposely exclude independent TV stations.”