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08/23/2016
FCC Appears to Pivot on Set-Top Box Plan
Aug. 19 — The Federal Communications Commission may be plotting a significantly different course on pay-TV set-top boxes than it originally intended, according to several recent agency filings from top content companies.
In separate filings, CBS Corp. and 21st Century Fox Inc. described talks with FCC officials on the agency's proposal to open the set-top box market to third parties. The descriptions suggest FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler is considering a plan that would hew far closer to an app-based cable industry approach than the FCC's original proposal to require pay-TV providers to supply raw programming information streams to third parties.
The agency appears to be retrenching its high-profile effort in response to a firestorm of criticism from the cable industry and Capitol Hill.
