November 1999

White Paper on Digital Retransmission Consent Agreements between Cable Operators and Broadcasters Filed at the FCC

A White Paper written by Stuart N. Brotman has been filed with the Federal Communications Commission by the National Cable Television Association (NCTA) to provide a fuller perspective of emerging developments in digital television. “Priming the Pump”: The Role of Retransmission Consent in the Transition to Digital Television focuses on the expansion of available programming and the crafting of retransmission consent agreements to enable widespread availability of leading broadcast networks on cable television systems. It provides a broader perspective to industry participants and to the communications policymaking community as it continues its deliberations on how best to implement the transition to a digital broadcast television system.

The White Paper was discussed in a speech by NCTA President and CEO Robert Sachs at the Washington Metropolitan Cable Club in October 1999. Mr. Sachs used the speech as support for the cable industry’s position that digital must-carry obligations are unnecessary because, given time, broadcasters and cable operators will work out digital retransmission consent agreements just as the majority of broadcasters did for their analog signals in 1993 and again in 1996.