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Barton, Deal to Hold Retrans Roundtable

By Ted Hearn
7/18/2006

House Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Joe Barton (R-Texas) is planning to hold a roundtable discussion Wendesday afternoon on carriage negotiations between local TV stations and cable and satellite TV operators, also known as retransmission consent, according to industry lobbyists.

Barton is expected to host the session along with Rep. Nathan Deal (R-Ga.), who in April withdrew a retransmission-consent-reform proposal -- which was not expected to pass -- in exchange for a Barton-sponsored private industry forum.

Deal has for years been concerned that broadcasters have been abusing retransmission consent to force cable to carry unwanted nonbroadcast programming on the expanded-basic tier, causing the package to swell in size and price to the detriment of cable consumers.

Cable-industry participants expected to attend include Insight Communications CEO Michael Willner and American Cable Association outside counsel Christopher Cinnamon. Cox Communications and direct-broadcast satellite provider EchoStar Communications are expected to send representatives.

It is also possible that a representative of Suddenlink Communications will attend. Suddenlink -- a cable operator formerly called Cebridge Connections -- is in the middle of a heated carriage dispute with Sinclair Broadcast Group, which is demanding that the cable company pony up a onetime $40 million upfront fee and a $1-per-subscriber, per-month charge ($2.4 million annually) in order to maintain carriage of the ABC and Fox affiliates in Charleston, W. Va.

Sinclair owns the ABC affiliate (WCHS) and it has a local marketing agreement with the Fox station (WVAH). Suddenlink, which has refused to pay, and Sinclair have brought the Federal Communications Commission into the dispute.

On the broadcasting side, attorney Kurt Wimmer of Covington & Burling and Disney executive vice president of worldwide government relations Preston Padden are also expected to be on hand.

The session, which is closed to the media, is scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. and go for one hour. Energy and Commerce spokesman Terry Lane declined to comment.

Barton agreed to hold the forum as a concession to Deal, who wanted to add retransmission-consent provisions to Barton’s telecommunications bill (H.R. 5252), which has cable franchising reform as its centerpiece. Deal, who lacked a committee majority, never offered his amendment.

Among other things, the Deal amendment would have allowed any cable or DBS provider to seek arbitration to settle a carriage dispute with a local TV station after a 90-day window of private bargaining. The TV station, which could not pull its signal during arbitration, had to be affiliated with at least one cable network.