FCC Can, Should Order Charter Refunds in Northwest Blackout, Communities Say
Charter Communications clearly had more than enough control over its ability to carry Northwest Broadcasting programming and avoid or defer the ongoing blackout long enough to give 30-day notice to subscribers, said El Centro and Crescent City, California; Yuma, Arizona;…
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and Jackson, Wyoming, in an FCC docket 18-91 reply posted Tuesday. They responded to Charter's opposition to the communities' petitions (see 1804270002). The communities said the company hasn't offered a strong defense of its broadcast TV surcharge, and if it's a pass-through charge, Charter is obligated to refund the amounts saved by the blackout. They said the FCC has authority to order refunds under Section 4 of the Communications Act and that Charter's terms of service saying subscribers aren't entitled to refunds violate public policy and should be declared void. The MVPD didn't comment.