The Federal Communications Commission which until now has mostly chastised the two sides in the Fox-Cablevision fight is showing the first signs of stepping in.
In a letter today, the chief of the FCC’s Media Bureau asked each side to demonstrate that they are in fact engaged in the “good faith” negotiations required of both parties in a retransmission dispute.
Implicit in the letter is the possibility that the FCC could find one or both sides are failing to engage in negotiations required by the law. Up to now, that’s something that has happened only once. In 2001 the agency found Echostar [now Dish Network] hadn’t engaged in “good faith” negotiations and ordered it to negotiate in good faith.
The FCC could impose fines or order good faith negotiations but what else it could do isn’t clear.
The letter was sent today as Fox warned Cablevision subscribers who wanted to see baseball’s World Series to either switch cable providers or buy an antenna.
As for Cablevision, the company amplifeid its weeklong calls for government intervention.
“We welcome the FCC’s intervention," Cablevision said in a statement. "Whether through FCC action, binding arbitration or any other means, the time has come for News Corp to end the Fox blackout of 3 million Cablevision households."
The FCC’s letter was sent by the FCC’s William T. Lake to Chase Carey, deputy chairman, president and COO of News Corp., and to James Dolan, President-CEO of Cablevision Systems.
“We are deeply concerned about the impact of your current retransmission consent dispute on consumers in Cablevision's service area,” said the letter.
“We are troubled, as [FCC] Chairman [Julius Genachowski] said, that Cablevision and Fox are spending more time attacking each other through ads and lobbyists than sitting down at the negotiating table.’
Noting that broadcast laws require “good faith” negotiations, the letter asked for specific information either indicating compliance with the law or non-compliance.
“We ask each of you to describe to us how your company is satisfying this important statutory obligation in the context of your retransmission consent negotiations.
“In particular, we request that you describe with specificity what has transpired since you initially began your negotiations, and detail the efforts your company is making to end the current impasse. If you are aware of any conduct by the other side that you believe violates the good faith requirement, please so indicate and provide supporting evidence.”
The letter reiterates the FCC’s concern about the talks.
“Your contract dispute extends beyond just Fox and Cablevision,” it said. “It affects millions of innocent consumers who expect to watch their preferred broadcast programming without interruption. We urge you to place the interests of these consumers first and conclude your negotiations promptly.”
