FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel has told Congress she would welcome the chance to work with it to better protect consumers during retransmission-consent disputes, a point she has made before in discussing retrans-related blackouts.
She expressed her view in a letter to Rhode Island’s congressional delegation, whose members had pushed the Federal Communications Commission to do everything it could to help resolve a retrans dispute — since resolved — between Nexstar Media Group and Verizon Communications affecting WPRI Providence.
The lawmakers encouraged the FCC to “do everything in its power to help bring the parties together so that negotiations can continue in good faith.”
In her response, Rosenworcel pointed out that the parties had resolved the dispute on their own.
She pointed out that neither Nexstar nor Verizon had filed a complaint alleging any violation of the law or rules on good-faith negotiations. Further, she said, the FCC's power over retrans is limited because under the law, “we cannot order or otherwise require carriage of a broadcast station during a dispute.”
But she suggested that was something she might like to see change, with Congress’s help. “I would welcome the opportunity to work with you and others in Congress on these matters so that consumers can be better protected in the future when disputes like these arise,” Rosenworcel wrote. ▪️
