For Immediate Release: September 29, 2016 Contact: Christina DiPasquale, press@balestramedia.com
National Hispanic Media Coaltion on FCC Delay of Cable Box Reform
This morning, the FCC announced that it would refrain from voting on its proposal to provide consumers with a choice to avoid paying set-top box rental fees at today's FCC open meeting. The item will remain on circulation at the FCC, and the Commissioners may vote on it at any time. Said Jessica J. González, executive vice president and general counsel at the National Hispanic Media Coalition: “We support the Commission's efforts to empower consumers to choose both whether to utilize costly set-top boxes and how to access our favorite content. This is particularly important for Latino consumers on tight budgets, many of whom find the costs of cable and satellite television prohibitively high, as well as for the majority of Latino content creators who are not part of the select few to be carried by cable and satellite programmers. “While the Commission has promptly followed all Congressionally-designed protocols articulated in the Administrative Procedure Act and may issue its vote at any time, we are dismayed by yet another delay that many in our community cannot afford. A vote to unlock the box is one that will provide relief to millions of families who have paid these unnecessary fees for far too long already.”
