The FCC Media Bureau Rules in Favor of DirecTV®

The FCC Media Bureau recently denied the retransmission good faith complaint filed by HITV against DirecTV^®, which alleged that the TV service provider failed to negotiate retransmission consent in good faith for the carriage of the broadcast television station KFVE, Honolulu, Hawaii. It is crucial to note that customers who have subscribed to the TV service of DirecTV^® are unable to access the Honolulu MyNetworkTV affiliated station since October 19, 2017.

The order issued by the FCC Media Bureau said, “Rather than provide a counter-offer to DirecTV’s initial proposal, HITV requested DirecTV^® to provide another proposal that would be workable for HITV. We agree with DirecTV^® that it is not obligated to negotiate against itself.”

The broadcast television station KFVE has been getting compensation from DirecTV^® when Raycom Media negotiated on their behalf. However, the Congress recently proclaimed that such kind of joint negotiations are not allowed anymore. Still, HITV still wants compensation from the TV service provider, but DirecTV^® is not willing to meet the needs of HITV, as they claim that the demand for the channel is too low. The FCC Media Bureau’s order regarding this issue asserted the fact that DirecTV^® did not act in a bad faith.

In addition to that, the FCC Media Bureau also rejected the claim made by HITV. They said, “Although it would have been more consistent with the spirit of the retransmission consent rules for DirecTV^® initially to explain its decision not to provide any monetary compensation, even in the absence of a counter-offer from HITV, our rules require no such explanation, and ultimately DirecTV conveyed its reasoning to HITV.”

The officials from DirecTV^® had managed to strike a deal with Rapid Broadcasting a few days ago. As a result, the NBC affiliate KNBN in Rapid City, SD had repapered on DirecTV^® right before the Super Bowl kickoff. This means that the Hawaiian station is the only channel that is unavailable on the channel line-up of DirecTV^® at present.

It is significant to note that one of the best internet providers in the country, Charter^® had also lost a few stations over the last couple of weeks. Due to this, channels such as CNBC, NBC Sports Network, and USA went dark to Charter^® TV subscribers. Some of these channels offer exclusive coverage and live updates from the Winter Olympics. Therefore, the loss of these channels will surely hurt customers who have subscribed to the TV service of Charter^®.