Matt Polka of the American Cable Association gave the keynote speech at the 2010 MTA Convention. He emphasized the commonalities between independent telcos and independent cable operators. Some 40% of the ACA membership consists of independent telcos. In his talk, he likened ACA members to David and big media to Goliath and that ACA has been fighting for the small operators since its inception in 1993.
In this video interview, Polka discusses some of the current issues that are at the forefront of his organization’s agenda including the ACA’s concerns regarding the Comcast-NBC merger, the high cost of retransmission consent and the direction media conglomerates may be moving with over their top video efforts.
Polka’s comments on retransmission consent reminded me of an earlier post (The DTV Transition – at What Cost) we wrote on the topic of the real costs of over-the-air broadcast. He referenced a recent op-ed piece written by Steve Friedman, CEO of cable operator Wave Broadband regarding the arcane FCC rules regarding retransmission consent and the costs this regulation imposes on consumers.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2011132689_guest22friedman.html