FCC Presents New Plan on Set Top Box Issue

Yesterday, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler released his revised plan to require consumer electronics manufacturers and other developers to make available free apps to allow consumers to access their pay-TV content on a variety of devices. Included in this release was an Op-Ed by Chairman Wheeler in the L.A. Times and a Factsheet with the key points of the new plan. In addition, the set top box proposal has been placed on the FCC’s agenda for its upcoming September 29 meeting.

ANA has been opposed to the FCC set top box NPRM, and we filed both initial comments and reply comments outlining our concerns about how the proposal will adversely affect the advertising community.

The Factsheet signals some significant changes from the initial NPRM, and we are very interested in hearing from our members on the Chairman’s latest plan, particularly regarding how it will impact the advertising side of businesses. We are in the beginning stages of preparing our own comments on this development, and will provide the final new proposal as soon as it is available.