Brennan’s Blog

I believe that competition will help cable costs go down, but at the moment the laws protect exclusive rights for area cable providers. And these providers pay a hefty fee to the local governments for that right. They call it a franchise fee, but it really sounds like a bribe.

If you have seen any TV commercials lately you have seen the ads about cable competition. One set of ads is from Consumers for Cable Choice. This group supports the Video Choice Act which was introduced last year. It appears to have a good deal of support from many congressional representatives. And you should know this coalition is strongly backed by AT&T (formerly SBC) which is the company trying to introduce their own video services to the Milwaukee area.

On the other side is the existing franchisees who want to protect their turf. In Milwaukee that would be Time Warner Cable. The Wisconsin Cable Communications Association has fired back with their own ads to stop this legislation. At issue is the fact that the new competition would not start out by paying those franchise fees which Time Warner has labeled a "sweetheart deal." I think paying the local government to block competition is the real "sweetheart deal" which does not benefit the consumers.

If you look at the bill you will see that it aims to eliminate all barriers to competition and remove exclusive franchise rights. That sounds like a level playing field to me. I want the bill to pass. If you agree, you can sign the petition.