The exclusivity ban is over, but an additional rulemaking might be coming. As expected, the FCC voted 5-0 Fri to terminate key parts of the 20-year-old program access exclusivity ban that requires cable ops to make most of their affiliated programming available to pay-TV rivals. The agency set a 6-month deadline for resolution of program access complaints on a case-by-case basis. As reported, the agency is teeing up various issues for comment in a further NPRM, such as the possibility of adding more presumptions. ACA and various critics, including Free Press and Senate Democrats, comment on the outcome.

Oral arguments by Time Warner Cable and the cable industry seemed to go well Thurs in their challenge of the FCC’s ’11 order aimed at improving program carriage dispute resolution for independent programmers seeking carriage on cable systems, Stifel Nicolaus analysts said. Read on to find out what TWC and cable are opposing.

Actually we are not sure if the Gannett-DISH battle, which involves 19 Gannett stations that could have gone dark Sun [UPDATE: the two sides reached a deal Mon], is over retrans fees or DISH’s ad-skipping feature, or both. Here’s DISH’s side of the story.

The Daily

Subscribe

Paramount’s Reason for Settling Trump Lawsuit

With news breaking overnight of Paramount Global’s $16 million settlement of President Trump’s “60 Minutes” lawsuit, the company couldn’t ignore the elephant in the room during its annual shareholder meeting Wednesday.

Read the Full Issue
The Skinny is delivered on Tuesday and focuses on the cable profession. You'll stay in the know on the headlines, topics and special issues you value most. Sign Up

Calendar

Sep 11
2025 Faxies Awards Faxies Nominations Open! Final deadline: 4/4/25
Full Calendar

Jobs

Seeking an INDUSTRY JOB or hiring for one?
VIEW JOBS

In conjunction with our sister brand, Cynopsis, we are offering hiring managers a deep pool of media-savvy, skilled candidates at a range of experience levels and sectors. The result will be an even more robust industry job board, to help both employers and job seekers.

Contact Carley Ashley, [email protected], for more information about posting a job on the website and our Jobs newsletter, sent twice weekly to 85,000 media professionals.