A PYMNTS Company

US: FCC says programmers are overreacting in privacy requests

By  |  November 18, 2014

The Federal Communications Commission submitted a filing with the US Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. Tuesday urging the court to ignore programmers’ “overheated rhetoric” in their fight to keep their programming contracts private.

    Get the Full Story

    Complete the form to unlock this article and enjoy unlimited free access to all PYMNTS content — no additional logins required.

    yesSubscribe to our daily newsletter, PYMNTS Today.

    By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions.

    The FCC has been taken to court by the programmers, which include CBS and Disney, which were ordered to make their programming contracts public as part of the FCC’s review of major media mergers. The watchdog claims that those contracts are crucial for public commenters to accurately assess the possible effects of those mergers, which are Comcast’s planned takeover of Time Warner Cable and AT&T’s acquisition of DirecTV.

    The FCC says outsider comments on those contracts “will be critical to the agency’s review of the pending mergers.”

    The programmers, however, argue that the contracts contain market sensitive information and making them public could mean a loss of leverage in future contract negotiations.

    Comcast issued its own filing with Time Warner Cable and Charter Communications agreeing with the FCC; AT&T reportedly issued a similar filing with the court as well.

    Reports say Comcast argues that if the court does not permit the release of those contracts it would “unjustifiably delay the substantial public interest benefits” of its proposed merger.

    Dish Network issued its own filing, agreeing that the contracts “are key to assessing the competitive effects” of the transactions.

    The programmers, headed by the National Association of Broadcasters, are expected to file their own briefs Wednesday in response to those filed Tuesday.

    Full content: Deadline

    Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.