WASHINGTON – A group of American programmers, content creators, civic groups and television providers have banded together to promote diverse, high quality programming, app-driven innovation, and consumer choice in video.
Dubbed the Future of TV Coalition, the group’s 47 founding members are led by co-chairs TV One CEO and Bright House Networks president Nomi Bergman. The Coalition said that it is strongly opposed to AllVid, a new technology proposal backed by companies like Google and TiVo, that is being considered by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
“AllVid would force programmers and TV providers to dismantle their shows and services for these companies to repackage, reuse, and exploit without negotiating for the rights like everybody else in the market does today”, reads the Coalition’s news release. “AllVid would not give viewers access to any new programming or content that isn’t already available in their homes and would not replace or lower their existing television bills. Moreover, it would increase the equipment in consumer homes by requiring a new “AllVid” adapter in the home to deliver programming to a set-top box or video device purchased at retail, further escalating consumer costs.”
The group added that it is “united in the belief that innovation and competition should drive the creative marketplace, not government mandates that have the potential to undermine and impede the best TV market in the world.”
