The Center for Digital Democracy (CDD), United States Catholic Conference of Bishops, and the Benton Foundation filed comments today with the FCC on the commission's Annual Assessment of the Status of Competition in the Market for the Delivery of Video Programming. In their filing, the three groups called on the FCC to open a new proceeding to gather information and seek comment on whether cable leased access (i.e., the set aside of 10-15 percent of available cable channels for lease to unaffiliated entities) is actually serving Congress’ twin mandates of ensuring “that the widest possible diversity of information sources are made available,” and promoting "competition in the delivery of diverse sources of video programming.”
Noting that cable has significantly evolved since 1984 when Congress first mandated leased access, the three groups suggest that existing leased-access regulations "appear to have deterred non-affiliated programmers from using leased access, further entrenched cable operators’ hold on video programming, and have not resolved the harms that the leased access provisions were designed to address, such as cable operators’ lack of incentive to provide programming with divergent interests."
Because the public and the FCC have virtually no information about the current status of leased-access programming, moreover, the groups believe that only through a new proceeding will the FCC be able to fulfill its statutory obligation to promote diversity in cable programming.
A copy of the groups' FCC filing is available below.