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Rep Anna Eshoo

Politico Morning Tech - Eshoo Draft Earns Swift Reax From TV Players

January 29, 2014

By Alex Byers

The draft legislation that Rep. Anna Eshoo is circulating to stave off future retrans blackouts won quick praise from DISH and the American Cable Association yesterday, but the proposal misses the point, National Association of Broadcasters CEO Gordon Smith said. In fact, the very term blackout is a misnomer, he argued in an evening statement. "Fundamentally, there is no such thing as a 'black-out' of broadcast TV programming. ... Our programming is always on, and always available to viewers on multiple platforms, including free to over-the-air antenna households.” The problem, he says, is certain companies making the rest of the system look bad. "Time Warner Cable, DirecTV and DISH are spending millions in Washington manufacturing a crisis over retransmission consent, when in fact it is these three companies responsible for nine out of 10 disruptions of service.”