“TV is stuck in
a distribution and consumption model that has not significantly changed in
decades” and needs to change, according to a new policy paper from Public
Knowledge.
“Tomorrowvision”
analyzes the thickets of rules that govern today’s video market and prescribes
changes needed to disrupt that marketplace and bring sorely needed competition
to consumers. Today’s market is “structured
less like a modern competitive industry and more like a medieval guild system
where everyone has a place,” the paper, by PK Senior Staff Attorney John
Bergmayer, said. The industry is
riddled with middlemen, geographic restrictions for some industry sectors,
serving the layers of distributors more than the content creators or viewers,
the paper found.
To allow for
more direct relationships between creators and viewers, the white paper suggests
some regulatory changes, which could be removed at a later date:
- The FCC should issue a
declaratory ruling that multichannel video programming distributors (cable and
satellite TV providers, or MVPDs) may not engage in “unfair methods of
competition or deceptive acts and practices” with regard to online video
distributors (OVDs). - The FCC should begin a
proceeding to determine which regulations ought to apply to OVDs that choose to
operate as MVPDs themselves. - Congress and the FCC
should reform the law to allow MVPDs more flexibility in carrying broadcast
signals. - The FCC should open up
device competition.
The
white paper is located here.