There’s an ongoing debate over whether live TV streaming providers like YouTube TV and SlingTV need to fall under the same legislation that forces cable and satellite TV providers to strike licensing deals with local stations, and if the Federal Communications Commission needs to make these changes. Two House Republicans are sending a message to the agency that change is a bad thing.
Two Republican leaders, House Energy & Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers from Washington and Communications Subcommittee Chair Bob Latta from Ohio, sent a note to FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel dissuading the agency from taking action, according to LightReading. The letter said that these newer streaming companies shouldn’t be regulated by 1990s-era laws, and that they provide much-needed competition to the traditional pay-TV business. It also said that the FCC lacks the authority to make these changes.
“It is up to Congress to make updates, not the FCC,” the letter said, according to LightReading.
At stake is a potential change in how live TV streaming services strike deals with local stations. The existing structure has these companies working with the larger parent companies of the big network, like NBCUniversal, Fox, Paramount (CBS) and Walt Disney (ABC), which negotiate on behalf of their respective local affiliates. But moving these services under the same cable TV regulations means a YouTube TV or SlingTV would have to work individual affiliates, striking multiple different deals depending on the market.
The lines of this battle are already drawn. Local broadcasters joined together to form the Coalition for Local News to argue for more representation and a better deal for local stations. In reaction, the major network companies banded together to form the Preserve Viewer Choice Coalition, arguing that a change in the status quo could lead to services dropping local channels or an increased rate of blackouts if negotiations hit a stalemate.
The FCC wasn’t necessarily going to make a move. Rosenworcel said the agency doesn’t have the authority to regulate the live TV streaming services. But the agency received calls to launch an inquiry into the issue and open it up for public discussion.
Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, a democrat from Washington, asked the FCC to explore the issue, according to Next TV.