FCC to Look at TV-Fee Blackouts

Federal regulators said Wednesday that they'll look at what the government can do to help prevent customers from losing television channels during disputes between pay-TV operators and broadcast station owners.

Amy Schatz at wsj.com reports William Lake, the Federal Communications Commission's media bureau chief, said the agency will next year study whether it could better protect consumers during the fee disputes, also known as "retransmission consent" negotiations. Such disputes have been happening more frequently now that broadcasters are seeking more money from pay-TV operators for the right to carry their TV stations. Mr. Lake was speaking at a luncheon sponsored by the Media Institute, an industry-sponsored group.

In October, a dispute between Cablevision Systems Corp. and News Corp.'s Fox Broadcasting left three million cable customers in the New York City and Philadelphia metropolitan areas without access to Fox television stations for more than two weeks during the postseason Major League Baseball games. News Corp. also owns The Wall Street Journal.

The companies eventually reached a deal after the FCC made it clear it wasn't planning to intervene, but the high-profile dispute caught the attention of lawmakers and regulators.

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