FCC's MVPD Proceedings Put Thumb on Scale for Streaming: FSF

The FCC's recent regulatory proceedings on multichannel video programming distributors (MVPD), "intentionally or not," unfairly skew "what would otherwise be a robustly competitive marketplace toward Internet-based providers," Free State Foundation Senior Fellow Andrew Long wrote Wednesday. He said "an up-to-date, honest understanding of ... the video distribution marketplace in 2024" would have the FCC shelve certain pending rulemakings that only further chill competition. Those include rulemakings about requiring rebates for programming blackouts due to stalled retransmission consent talks and others barring certain conditions in MVPD-programmer contracts. "If the Commission truly wanted to maximize overall consumer welfare, it would focus broadly on eliminating legacy one-sided regulations in order to allow competitive forces in the marketplace to do their job," Long wrote.