McCain Introduces Cable, Satellite A La Carte Legislation

Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) on Thursday unveiled legislation that would upend the cable and satellite business, forcing them to let customers pick-and-choose which channels they would like to get rather than take programming in bundles.

“The video industry, principally cable companies and satellite companies and the programmers that sell channels, like NBC and Disney-ABC, continue to give consumers two options when buying TV programming: First, to purchase a package of channels whether you watch them all or not; or second, not purchase any cable programming at all,” McCain said in remarks prepared to deliver on the floor of the Senate…..

Another provision would end the sports blackout rule when events are taking place in publicly financed venues or involve public financed sports teams. McCain also wades into the dicey area of retransmission consent negotiations, with a provision that in cases where carriage disputes that fail to reach agreement, both sides must disclose their final offer to the FCC.

It would require the implied, oral consent of Major League baseball, rather than the express, written consent!