FCC proposes ending sports television blackout rule

[Corsi]

Nothing more than a tweet right now.
 

BREAKING: U.S. FCC proposes ending TV sports blackout rule
 

https://twitter.com/BloombergTV/status/413389836067037185

 

[santadevil]

Good.
 
I wonder how much of this is from that bit of legal action we read about a year (a couple years?) ago.
We had a poster who was going to be doing this if I recall.

 

[Reverend]

Nothing more than a tweet right now.
 
https://twitter.com/BloombergTV/status/413389836067037185

 
Why don't you source the tweets you post?

 

[Corsi]

 
Why don't you source the tweets you post?

 
Sorry, it's from Bloomberg.

 

[phrenile]

Here's the notice of proposed rulemaking.

 

[NortheasternPJ]

Good.
 
I wonder how much of this is from that bit of legal action we read about a year (a couple years?) ago.
We had a poster who was going to be doing this if I recall.

The big advertiser boycott! That was a huge movement.

 

[Reverend]

I think he means the lawsuit.

A bad ruling could hamstring them, whereas if they donitbvuntarily they may be able to avoid a ruling that goes further than they want, i.e. This could be an attempt to control the future terrain.

 

[Yaz4Ever]

awesome.  I'm currently blacked out of Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, and Washington Nationals games even though the closest of those stadiums is 6 hours from my house.  I'd love to see this changed.  The part I'm most pissed about regarding my current blackout status is that they should only be able to consider one of those teams as my "home" team.  I couldn't be in all three places at once anyhow.

 

[zenter]

The real question (for me) is whether this is only related to broadcast and not streaming, since the FCC handles these two types of media consumption differently.

 

[Blue Monkey]

The FCC controls blackouts? I also thought it was controlled by the leagues?

 

[MannysDestination]

The FCC controls blackouts? I also thought it was controlled by the leagues?

 
It's not that blackouts couldn't happen without the FCC, it's that an FCC ruling made blackouts mandatory, at least from what I read in this link. Apparently the motivating factor that Rev alluded to is that leagues that continue to blackout broadcasts would lose antitrust exemption status.
 
 
 

The FCC has voted unanimously to eliminate the sports blackout rules.
 
The rules, adopted 40 years ago, prohibit cable and satellite providers from carrying the game if it is blacked out on on over the air TV due to insufficient ticket sales.
 
The move comes as changes in the marketplace have raised questions about whether it is in the public interest to maintain the blackout, particularly at the current price of a ticket and the state of the economy. That was then acting chairwoman Mignon Clyburn's argument for teeing up the item for a vote during her busy tenure.
 
The elimination of the rule does not mean that sports leagues and broadcasters--or cable operators or satellite operators--can't strike private agreements that include such blackouts.
 
But a bill was introduced last month, the Furthering Access and Networks for Sports Act, or FANS Act, that would remove the antitrust exemption for any sports league that does not prohibit or limit sports blackouts in their video contracts, including during retransmission- consent impasses.
 
The item has been on circulation for about six weeks, but according to an FCC source, it has now been approved by all the commissioners.
 
In October 2011, the Sports Fan Coalition asked the FCC to lift the ban saying it would be a "pro-fan, pro-consumer, deregulatory action serving the public interest by expanding the availability of sports to the public without adding any regulatory compliance costs to the private sector."
 
Media Access Project and Public Knowledge joined the coalition petition.
 
Broadcasters oppose excising the rule. "Sports blackouts are exceedingly rare, and NAB dislikes these disruptions as much as our viewers," said the National Association of Broadcasters in a statement, "However, we're concerned that today's proposal may hasten the migration of sports to pay-TV platforms, and will disadvantage the growing number of people who rely on free, over-the-air television as their primary source for sports. Allowing importation of sports programming on pay-TV platforms while denying that same programming to broadcast-only homes would erode the economic underpinning that sustains local broadcasting and our service to community."
 
The NFL agrees and has argued that getting rid of the rule would "undermine the retransmission-consent regime and give cable and satellite operators excessive leverage in retransmission-consent negotiations."
 
http://www.multichannel.com/distribution/fcc-approves-nprm-sports-blackout-rule/147296

 

[ifmanis5]

The change won't end all blackouts, just the mandatory language in the law. The leagues can still cut their own deals. In other words, expect more sports on cable TV- which most people are fine with.
 
 

 
The rules allow for sporting events to be “blacked out” in a market if it is not available on a local station, meaning that cable and satellite companies are prevented from carrying the signal of a distant station that is carrying the event.
The change still would not prevent sports leagues from negotiating their own private agreements for blackouts with broadcasters.
“We recognize that elimination of our sports blackout rules alone might not end sports blackouts, but it would leave sports carriage issues to private solutions negotiated by the interest parties in light of current market conditions and eliminate unnecessary regulation,” the FCC said.
 

 
http://variety.com/2013/biz/news/fcc-moves-to-end-sports-blackout-rule-1200973667/

 

[BucketOBalls]

The real question (for me) is whether this is only related to broadcast and not streaming, since the FCC handles these two types of media consumption differently.

If this somehow leads to getting rid of the ridiculous application of them to streaming, that would be great.  Out package allows you to see all the games....except the ones you want to.

 

[axx]

The FCC doesn't have jurisdiction over streaming, or cable either.
 
I saw some chatter that the broadcast networks inability to shut down Aereo was going to be the catalyst for the end of OTA - but this surely could be the final straw.

 

[ifmanis5]

Finally. Free at last.
 

 

It took a while, but the FCC today finally voted — unanimously — to end its sports blackout rules, following up on the rulemaking notice it issued in December. They were adopted in 1975 primarily to help broadcasters and the NFL by barring cable and satellite services from offering games in the teams’ markets if the stadium isn’t sold out. That’s a rarity these days: Only two games were blacked out last season. And even without the FCC rules, the NFL can cut deals that black out certain games.

 

NFL's month of awesomeness continues.

 

[MuzzyField]

Sports blackouts will continue, but it will be interesting to see how the process evolves and is challenged without the protection of the federal government.
 

The FCC doesn't have jurisdiction over streaming, or cable either.
 
I saw some chatter that the broadcast networks inability to shut down Aereo was going to be the catalyst for the end of OTA - but this surely could be the final straw.

Not necessarily....
 
The FCC is currently exploring the idea of classifying certain online video services as "television" and while cable isn't subject to the same licensing process as broadcast radio and TV,  the Commission does have regulatory authority over cable and satellite. 
 
In June, the Supreme Court sided with broadcast interests, pretty much shutting down Aereo.