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JOIN THE FIGHT!
To: Sen. Sherrod Brown, Sen. Rob Portman, Rep. Jim Renacci, Rep. Bob Gibbs, Sen. John Rockefeller (Chair, Senate Commerce Committee), Rep. Greg Walden (Chair, House Communications & Technology Subcommittee)
TV programming rates are INSANE, and I don't want to be forced to pay for programming thrust upon me by giant media conglomerates.
Large television networks and broadcast station groups that supply most of the programming I receive from my locally-owned cable company are abusing their market power and exploiting regulatory advantages to demand more and more money from consumers while not giving us any choice. Without government involvement to correct these problems, rates will continue to rise, pushing the price of TV beyond the reach of many consumers just like me.
Big programmers raise rates to me by bundling all of their channels together, forcing me to pay for many channels I don't care for or watch. Broadcast television stations use outdated retransmission consent laws and regulations to make me pay a monopoly fee for what the broadcasters are required to provide for free, over the air. Broadcasters in some markets even band together to negotiate retransmission consent prices, even though they are not commonly owned. This raises the price of retransmission consent even more!
Congress should restrain abusive programming and retransmission consent practices and give my local cable company the flexibility to offer a range of programming, allowing me to choose the tiers of services I want and not choose expensive channels I don't watch or want, like expensive sports channels.
Please join the fight to change outdated, unfair federal laws and regulations, and help me to stop these harmful programming tying and bundling practices. I urge Congress to begin rewriting communications laws in 2013 to better protect me, the consumer. I also urge you to tell the FCC that you will hold it accountable for protecting consumers by finishing rulemakings on retransmission consent, media ownership and program access. I want you to support consumer-friendly changes to our nation's communication laws starting right now!
Sincerely, (Fill out the information below)
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