Residents of the great state of New Hampshire were among those potentially affected by the retransmission consent battle between Sunbeam and DirecTV. Sunbeam’s Boston NBC outlet was on the table, and without an agreement, local DirecTV subscribers might have missed out on seeing the Super Bowl in the comfort of their own living room. However, the editorialists at the Manchester Union Leader said the Super Bowl was no reason for local politicians or the FCC to be sticking their noses in the negotiating process.
The two parties have come to terms and the Super Bowl will be seen on Sunbeam’s WHDH in the Boston DMA.
MLU called out Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Rep. Charlie Bass (R-NH) for grandstanding on the subject, and for asking for FCC intervention – asking the Commission to “do something.”
“Like what, exactly?” asked the newspaper. “The FCC has no more business interfering in this contract tussle than it does when a cable carrier can’t agree on a contract with Fox, as happened last year. We sympathize with the viewer who sometimes misses out on programming. But the buyer of a pay TV service must make himself aware that contractual disputes can affect his own contract, too. Shaheen and Bass ought to find better things to do.”
