June 20, 2011
NAB Pulse

TV Broadcasting Still a Major and Essential Element of Video Ecosystem

NAB filed comments on June 8 in response to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) annual survey on the state of video competition. The FCC proceeding – the Annual Assessment of the Status of Competition in the Market for the Delivery of Video Programming – is required every year by Congress as mandated in the 1992 Cable Act. The FCC is collecting comments and data for its 14th annual report.

In its comments, NAB noted that while broadcasters face increasing competition from a variety of sources, including cable and satellite video providers, they are nonetheless expanding in popularity as consumers continue to "cut the cord" from pay TV services and embrace new broadcast technologies and distribution methods that provide programming in innovative ways.

NAB's comments also noted how broadcast stations have expanded news and programming availability through station websites, while implementation of mobile DTV allows consumers access to broadcast television on the go. The comments emphasized that broadcasters provide a unique service that is unavailable anywhere else in the media ecosystem – access to local entertainment, weather and news. NAB also noted that in emergency situations, broadcast stations continue to provide life-saving emergency information because broadcasting's one-to-many infrastructure does not overload or breakdown.. In contrast, cellular networks break down quickly due to their one-to-one architecture.

NAB also iterated that retransmission consent is a marketplace-based mechanism that is serving Congress' intended purpose. While retransmission consent fees paid by MVPDs are rising, these fees are still significantly less than fees paid to far less popular cable networks.

Click here to read NAB's comments.

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