American Cable Association President and CEO Matthew M. Polka, in a statement, responded to the Federal Communications Commission's decision to allow the 1992 Cable Act's program access exclusivity ban to sunset immediately.

"ACA is disappointed that the FCC decided to permit the prohibition on exclusive contracts to sunset, but it appreciates the FCC's willingness to adopt some modifications to the Section 628(b) unfair practices complaint process to make it less burdensome for multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs)," Polka said.

The FCC adopted the order on Oct. 5, setting aside competitively important rules that had been in place for about 20 years.

In the order, the FCC established a rebuttable presumption that an exclusive contract for a cable-affiliated, satellite-delivered regional sports network (RSN) would significantly hinder the ability of an MVPD to provide a competitive service without such programming. 

"ACA is pleased that the FCC also made clear that a selective refusal to deal, particularly with regard to cable overbuilders and new entrants, can be a violation of the program access rules' prohibition on discrimination," Polka said.

Although ACA said it thought the outcome is less than ideal, the organization is hopeful that the FCC's confidence in the functionality of the section 628(b) process, along with its additional safeguards concerning exclusive contracts, will send a strong signal to cable-affiliated programmers to not even attempt exclusive deals for must-have programming -- whether it be RSNs or highly rated national cable networks -- because the process will always lead to a finding that these deals are unfair and harm consumers and competition.

"ACA also greatly appreciates the FCC's adoption of a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) to consider proposals put forth by ACA on ways to ensure that the program access rules may be effectively utilized by a buying group, such as the National Cable Television Cooperative," Polka said.

Likewise, ACA said it was very pleased that the further notice will consider another ACA suggestion on whether to establish a rebuttable presumption for exclusive deals for national cable-affiliated networks that carry a minimum amount of sporting events, and other modifications that will make the Section 628(b) process work better for MVPDs, particularly smaller operators and new entrants. 

ACA said it looked forward to participating in this further rulemaking and is hoping for expeditious action.