ATVA, Legislator, AT&T Blast Cox Over Super Bowl Blackout

AT&T customers just before the Super Bowl over retransmission consent negotiations. “Apollo Global has chosen to use the moment in which it can inflict maximum harm on viewers in order to extract maximum fees well into the future,” ATVA said. The blackout affects Seattle; Dayton; Yuma, Arizona; Greenwood, Mississippi; and Eureka, California. Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., sent Cox a letter Thursday over the blackout affecting his constituents. Switching to another MVPD or a streaming service isn’t an option for all his constituents, Huffman said. Many “live in rural areas with limited access to broadband and other distributors,” he said. Many of those in his district had switched to AT&T from Suddenlink over a previous blackout, Huffman said. He will add provisions requiring that interim carriage be provided during retrans negotiations to a bill aimed at repealing the UHF discount. Friday, AT&T said retrans blackouts “fly in the face” of NAB assurances that broadcasters wouldn’t have service interruptions during the pandemic. “While NAB successfully lobbied Congress for stimulus relief for local broadcasters, to ‘serve their communities during this critical time,’ CMG has now turned their back on those very communities,” the update said. “It’s time that Congress and the FCC take a fresh look at this broken retransmission consent system that encourages blackouts and skyrocketing rate increases at consumers’ expense.” If "the companies don’t fix this problem, the FCC should act," said Public Knowledge Legal Director John Bergmayer. The FCC "has the statutory authority to order interim carriage during program carriage disputes," Bergmayer said. "Timing blackouts to coincide with marquee events like the Super Bowl should be considered unlawful under the ‘good faith’ standard that governs retransmission consent negotiations." NAB declined to comment, and Cox Media Group didn’t respond to a request for comment.