DALLAS - Tom Giovanetti, President of the Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI), issued the following statement in response to Sen. Richard Blumenthal's (D-Conn.) statement on the Comcast/Yes Network carriage dispute:
"By pulling the rug out from under free market negotiations, Sen. Blumenthal is inexplicably taking sides against sports fans and in favor of higher TV bills.
Rising programming fees are one of the key drivers of cost increases for cable and satellite TV, and market negotiations are the only way to rein them in. But Sen. Blumenthal's comments today undermine that process, tilting the scales steeply in favor of higher prices and undermining Comcast's effort to negotiate for lower rates.
The Yankees may be popular, but high prices most definitely are not. Policy makers should resist the temptation to insinuate themselves into private business disputes and leave markets to work out the value of programming.”
Tom Giovanetti is president of the Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI), an independent, nonprofit public policy organization based in Dallas. He is available for interview by contacting Erin Humiston at (972) 874-5139, or erin@ipi.org.
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