The FCC’s order that will require DBS providers DirecTV and Dish each to pay a 27-cent, per-subscriber regulatory fee in fiscal 2016 garnered applause from the American Cable Association, which represents around 750 smaller and medium-sized, independent cable companies. The fee includes three cents to help the FCC accomplish a facilities reduction.
“ACA is very pleased to see the FCC remains firmly committed to establishing true regulatory fee parity between cable/IPTV providers and satellite TV’s DirecTV and Dish — respectively, the largest and fourth-largest multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs),” American Cable Association President and CEO Matthew M. Polka, says. “Achieving this goal will mean that the burden of supporting the FCC’s Media Bureau is distributed fairly among all types of MVPDs. As the FCC noted, the Media Bureau’s oversight and regulatory work related to cable/IPTV providers and DBS providers are similar.
Polka adds that in ACA’s view, “fee parity is also essential because smaller MVPDs should not be put in a position, by government policy, of subsidizing their largest pay TV competitors.”
Further, he notes that for the next year at least, despite the increase in DBS fees, “cable’s fee burden will remain substantial.”
“The FCC plans to collect $1 per subscriber from cable operators. Particularly in light of the substantial and continuing cable/IPTV-DBS fee disparity, the FCC deserves praise for dismissing Dish’s assertion that the year-over-year increase in the DBS fee from 12 cents to 27 cents — a monthly increase from 1 cent to roughly 2 cents per subscriber – would subject its customers to ‘rate shock,’ “ Polka observes.
