Technology Marches on but TV Rules are Stuck in the Past

Oct 5, 2012

20th Anniversary of the 1992 Cable Act Veto Nothing to Celebrate

Washington, D.C. October 5, 2012– Twenty years after Congress voted to override President George H.W. Bush’s veto of the 1992 Cable Act, everything in the world of television has changed except this antiquated legislation.

Five presidential elections later we have video on demand, 3D TV, satellite TV operators, telco video providers and video streamed over the internet, but the TV rules that created the retransmission consent regime are still the same.   The outdated 1992 Cable Act allows broadcasters to blackout programming and charge whatever they can get away with for retransmission consent fees – billions of dollars by some estimates.  Instead of progress, consumers are locked in an outdated structure that has hit them with 80 blackouts this year alone.

It’s time for Congress and the FCC to act because this is not an anniversary to celebrate.

###

The American Television Alliance (ATVA) brings together an unprecedented coalition of consumer groups, cable, satellite, telephone companies, and independent programmers to raise awareness about the risk viewers face as broadcasters increasingly threaten service disruptions that would deny viewers access to the programs they and their families enjoy.

For more information about ATVA, visit our website. Follow us on Twitter @ATVAlliance.

Media Contact: Elizabeth McCabe, 202-973-2965

[email protected]