JOHN KERRY
MASSACHUSETTS
iloited~tatts~rnatc
WASHINGTON, DC 20510-2102
January 19,2012
The Honorable Julius Genachowski
Chainnan
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, SW
Room 8B201
Washington, DC 20554
Dear Chainnan Genachowski:
COMMITTIiES:
COMMERCE, SCIENCE.
AND TRANSPORTATION
FINANCE
FOREIGN RELATIONS
SMALL BUSINESS
As you know, more than 200,000 D1RECTV customers in Greater Boston have been cut off from
Channels 7 and 56 since last Saturday.
Ifthe satellite provider and the stations' owner do not settle their dispute, then these consumers,
through no fault oftheir own, could miss the chance to watch their hometown New England
Patriots play in the Super Bowl ifthe Patriots prevail, as we hope they will, in this Sunday's
AFC Championship Game.
As you know, the Sunbeam Television Corporation is the owner ofWHDH-TV (Channel 7),
WLVI-TV (Channel 56), and a sister Fox affiliate in Miami, and it has blacked out its stations on
the D1RECTV service as it seeks an increase in retransmission consent fees. I take no position on
what the proper rate is, and I do not know ifthe Sunbeam request is fair or in line with market
rates or ifthe request is outside the nonn. These are private negotiations and neither I nor the
public can compare them against what other distributors are paying, What I do know is that none
ofus want to see subscribers to DIRECTV caught in the middle or used as pawns by either side
at the time during which consumers most want to access the channels they nonnally receive.
With my constituents in mind, I urge you to immediately and personally ask DIRECTV and
Sunbeam Television Corporation to reach tenns under which the signal will be restored.
I also want to urge you to bring the pending notice of proposed rulemaking on retransmission
consent disputes to conclusion. This is the third year in a row that I have had to bring a
significant retransmission dispute issue to the attention ofthe FCC. No one wants to see this
trend continue, but I fear these confrontations will only continue to reach their peaks around the
"must see" live events that matter so much to consumers. There must be a way to avoid having
families and small businesses caught in the crossfire ofunderstandably hardnosed bargaining
between media corporations.
I continue to hear sad stories offamilies and businesses which become "collateral damage"
during these corporate disputes. I'm particularly concerned about restaurant and bar owners who
lose business during already difficult economic times. For example, during one ofthe last major
disputes, the Associated Press reported on a restaurant owner who summed up the economic
price he was paying rather succinctly: "I'm relying on (fans) to come in... and they're walking
PfllNTlO ON IlECYCLEO ,.APHI
The Honorable Julius Genachowski
January 19,2012
Page 2
out, even though I pay for the football package." He went on to say that "regular, everyday
people get caught in the middle."
1don't want to see this scene repeated in Boston with bar owners and families that subscribe to
DlRECTV left in the dark. Please contact the companies, urge them to come to terms and
restore the signal immediately, and please move forward with the authority that you have to
discourage these disputes from recurring.