FCC commissioners reportedly on board with program carriage changes

A majority of Federal Communication Commission commissioners reportedly have approved changes to the FCC's program carriage rules that would speed up the regulatory processing of programming complaints and disputes, according to Multichannel News.

The FCC has long been looking to improve the process, but may have been spurred into action by language in the Comcast-NBC Universal merger approval order that called for quicker resolution to program carriage disputes so that consumers would not be affected. It was believed by some that a major cable TV operator gaining control of a major content house would only increase the likelihood of such disputes, while some cable operators have said that increasing competition makes the rules themselves unnecessary.

The changes reportedly would fast-track valid disputes, while identifying and dismissing complaints unlikely to pass muster, the report says.

For more:
- read this Multichannel News report

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