Lawmakers Ponder Blackouts in Senate Hearing

No consensus, debate to continue

Like consumers, Senate Commerce Committee members don’t like blackouts on cable systems. But they aren’t sure what, if anything, to do about it.

After two years of trying to badger the Federal Communications Commission to act on solving blackouts, lawmakers have finally come around to the realization that the FCC doesn’t have the authority to do anything.

In what will probably be the first of many hearings on the Cable Act—the law often blamed for blackouts—lawmakers today tried to sort through the contentious and often uncompromising positions of broadcasters and cable systems.

Perhaps knowing what sort of tinderbox he had sitting before him, chairman John Rockefeller (D-W.Va.)

AW+

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

To Read the Full Story Become an Adweek+ Subscriber

View Subscription Options

Already a member? Sign in