Sources: McCain to Testify at Video Hearing

By
( )
published

According to two industry sources, Sen. John McCain is expected to testify at the May 14 state of video hearing in the Senate Communications Subcommittee.

He is said to have requested the appearance. His office did not return a call for comment at press time.

McCain wants to unbundle cable channel and TV station retransmission consent negotiations, get the FCC involved more in resolving program carriage disputes and force channels to be offered a la carte, all of which he says is driven by a desire to aid consumers.

Among the other witnesses are National Association of Broadcasters president Gordon Smith and National Cable & Telecommunication Association president Michael Powell.

John Eggerton
John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.