FCC Looks to Prevent Service Blackouts Over TV Disputes

WASHINGTON: The Federal Communications Commission is proposing a set of new rules that would strengthen the government’s role in preventing customers from losing TV channels during disputes between pay-TV operators and station owners.

William Lake, the FCC’s media bureau chief, said that next year the agency will look at whether it could better protect consumers during the fee disputes, referred to as "retransmission consent" negotiations. "A principal concern is to protect consumers when talks break down," Lake said.

According to Lake, the FCC’s goal will be to reduce the number of "failed deals and dropped signals."

In early fall, Cablevision asked the FCC to intervene after News Corp.’s Fox Broadcasting pulled its channels off the service when Cablevision refused to pay a fee for it. The dispute left 3 million customers without access to Fox stations for more than two weeks.