Verizon (FIOS) pointed out to NY government officials that Cablevision, who will be broadcasting the debate, has decided not to share the content with other providers. This decision effectively blocks off a large percentage of potential voters from ever seeing a debate.
http://tvbythenumbers.com/...
NEW YORK, Oct. 16 PRNewswire – Verizon is reaching out to elected officials and others on Long Island and around the state to seek their support for the company’s efforts to broadcast the first gubernatorial debate leading up to the 2010 election.
The debate will be held at Hofstra University on Monday (Oct. 18) and is sponsored by Cablevision.
"Verizon FiOS TV customers and millions of other viewers served by other providers across the state have essentially been blacked out of the debate, denying them their rights as citizens and voters, since Cablevision is the sole broadcaster of the event," said Michelle Webb, general manager and chief programming officer of FiOS1, Verizon’s news channel for Long Island and northern New Jersey. "And while the broadcast will be available on certain websites and some radio, those may not be practical solutions for many people."
The question that some have is: well, this is a debate for a race that is largely decided. And that's true, but what it signifies is that the cable industry is willing to violate the standards and practice that warrant their existence. Many of these companies operate in near monopolies in communities around the country, and they do so with an agreement from the community and government that they will operate within the best interest of the people within that district.
This argument is blown apart when political events - important for the participation of the voter - are held hostage by broadcasters. While this is only a test, let's imagine where this could go. A debate for a contested race in Missouri is held exclusively on FoxNews. or MSNBC. Or a cable provider in South Dakota.. and while it's broadcast, most of those people can't see it because the provider will not offer access.
This is the core of the concept of allowing for not only Net Neutrality, but for information neutrality. That intentionally denying access to political content by a provider is by all means, wrong.
The outcome of a race isn't really important. If this same thing happened in Boise-1 and the Republican was ahead by 60 points, or in a district where a Democrat was +40, the public still has a right to access of civil events.
For years, we have heard that the rise of the information age meant that such things could not be possible, oh, everyone has access to information.. the internet, radio, wherever. But that is a utopian world in which everyone is middle class with multiple computers, media centers, etc. The reality is that many of the voters aren't in that boat. They may have a TV, but they don't necessarily have the means to be listening over a broadband connection or the willingness to sit and listen to a crackling radio, and very few have HD radio in their homes.
Verizon is only another company. But in this case, they aren't advocating to do something to "break the bank" of Cablevision, and they certainly aren't doing it for the revenue.. of which there is almost none. Frankly, Verizon would probably make off better selling cable ad packages on Reruns of Grey's Anatomy or Glee.
But they are at least pointing out a serious flaw. And it didn't happen in nowhere. This isn't happening in Louisiana or Mississippi or North Dakota. The denial of service is happening in a liberal bastion - New York.
There are no excuses here, and this is where a clear message must be sent to nationwide cable providers. The denial of political Civic non-partisan events is an obligation of the carrier, and cannot be held hostage as an exclusive, denying the voter access to information. It cannot stand in New York, because it cannot ever become a standard elsewhere.