Ms. Marlene Dortch
Secretary
Federal Communications Commission
Enforcement Bureau
445 12th Street, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20554

Re: American Cable Association (“ACA”); Notice of Ex Parte Presentations
MB Docket No. 07-198
MB Docket No. 03-124

Dear Ms. Dortch:

Under 47 C.F.R. § 1.1206(b), we electronically provide this notice of ex parte presentations in the dockets listed above. On April 9, 2008, the following persons met with FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin and Media Bureau Chief Monica Desai:

Steven Weed, CEO, Wave Broadband
Martin Brophy, President and CEO, Shen-Heights Television
Frank Hughes, Senior VP – Programming, National Cable Television Cooperative
Tom Larsen, VP of Legal Affairs, Mediacom
Christopher Cinnamon, Attorney, Cinnamon Mueller
Nicole Paolini-Subramanya, Attorney, Cinnamon Mueller

ACA discussed its concerns about increasing retransmission consent price discrimination against small and medium-sized cable operators. ACA members reported that they are facing “take it or leave it” retransmission consent offers with per-subscriber fees several times higher than larger cable operators and DBS pay for the same stations. ACA members reported that this raises costs for their subscribers, places them at a competitive disadvantage, and harms broadband deployment.

ACA also discussed its opposition to News Corporation’s Petition for Modification of Conditions. The conditions that the Commission placed on News Corporation in MB Docket No. 03-124 have benefited consumers by moderating News Corporation’s prices, and by restricting News Corporation’s ability to threaten to withdraw signals in negotiations with small cable operators.

Yours truly,
Nicole Paolini-Subramanya

cc: Ross J. Lieberman

Attachment	Size
Notice of Ex Parte Presentations MB Docket No. 07-198 MB Docket No. 03-124 041408.pdf	24.16 KB