FCC Votes to Uphold Media Bureau on Programming Contracts

The full commission has voted to affirm the Media Bureau's decision last week rejecting challenges to the Media Bureau's decision last week on how third parties can get access to programming contracts as part of the FCC's vetting of the Comcast/Time Warner Cable and AT&T/DirecTV merger proposals.

But the commission also delayed access to the documents until next week (3 p.m. on Nov. 17) so those programmers have a chance to seek a court stay of the FCC decision.

The vote was 3-2 along party lines, with Republican commissioners Ajit Pai and Michael O'Rielly dissenting.

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John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.