Last Wednesday, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation's Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet conducted a hearing on the retransmission consent process entitled, "Television Viewers, Retransmission Consent, and the Public Interest." Chaired by Sen. John Kerry (MA), this hearing examined the retransmission consent process, including Sen. Kerry’s draft legislation that would drastically alter the level playing field of retransmission consent negotiations and harm the communities broadcasters serve. Among the changes, the bill would give the Federal Communications Commission the authority to implement binding arbitration.

Witnesses at the hearing included:

• Chase Carey, deputy chairman, president and COO, News Corporation
• Glenn Britt, chairman, president and CEO, Time Warner Cable
• Tom Rutledge, COO, Cablevision Systems Corp.
• Joe Uva, president and CEO, Univision Communications Inc.
• Charles Segars, CEO, Ovation

Prior to the hearing, NAB’s Government Relations team and network allies met with the members of the committee to ensure their understanding of the broadcast industry’s position. It is still unclear when or if Sen. Kerry will formally introduce his legislation in the Senate. NAB will continue to educate members of Congress of the value local stations provide to every local community and how the retransmission consent enhances their ability to do just that.

With increased attention on the retransmission consent issue in Washington, D.C., NAB continues to aggressively advocate that the process is working as Congress intended and that any changes would be harmful to the viewing public. Last week, NAB ran ads on the issue in Capitol Hill publications that highlight how the retransmission consent process is critical to local TV stations' ability to provide local news, community and emergency information, as well as top quality entertainment programming for viewers.

In addition, NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith wrote an op-ed on the issue for the Capitol Hill publication Politico where he notes: "Pay-TV companies that built their businesses on the backs of local and network broadcast signals should pay a fair price for access to that high-value programming. Legislators and policymakers should reject pay-TV's call for government intervention and reinforce the power of market-based negotiations."

Please visit www.KeepMyTV.org for more information about the value of broadcast television. For more information on retransmission consent, click here.