Media Bureau seeks comment for 18th Video Competition Report

Full Title

Media Bureau Seeks Comment on the Status of Competition in the Market for the Delivery of Video Programming

Document Type: Public Notice

Bureau(s): Media

I. INTRODUCTION

This Public Notice (Notice) solicits data, information, and comment on the state of competition in the delivery of video programming for the Commission’s Eighteenth Report (18th Report). We seek to update the information and metrics provided in the Seventeenth Report (17th Report) in order to report on the state of competition in the video marketplace in 2015. Using the information collected pursuant to this Notice, we seek to enhance our analysis of competitive conditions, better understand the implications for the American consumer, and provide a solid foundation for Commission policy making with respect to the delivery of video programming to consumers. The 18th Report also will satisfy the Commission’s statutory requirement to “annually report to Congress on the status of competition in the market for the delivery of video programming.” Section 19 of the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992 (1992 Cable Act) amended the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (the Act or Communications Act) and directed the Commission to establish regulations for the purpose of increasing competition and diversity in multichannel video programming distribution, increasing the availability of satellite delivered programming, and spurring the development of communications technologies. Our annual reports to Congress seek to measure and assess progress toward these goals.

In 1992, when Congress first required the Commission to report on the status of competition in the market for the delivery of video programming, most consumers had the limited choice of receiving over-the-air broadcast television stations or subscribing to the video services offered by their local cable company. For most consumers, head-to-head competition among multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) arguably began in 1994 with the introduction of direct broadcast satellite (DBS) video services. In 2005, additional competitive alternative MVPD services became available to consumers when telephone companies began offering video services in some areas. More recently, consumers have gained access to alternatives for the delivery of video programming from online video distributors (OVDs), which offer video content over the Internet.

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