Byron Allen's Entertainment Studios And NAAAOM Urge FCC And Commissioner Mignon Clyburn To Reject FCC Chairman's Draft Order Approving Charter/Time Warner Cable Merger

LOS ANGELES, April 28, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Entertainment Studios Networks (ES) and The National Association of African American-Owned Media (NAAAOM) on Wednesday, April 27, 2016, filed an ex parte letter with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) stating that the FCC Commissioners must vote against FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler's Charter Communications/Time Warner Cable merger draft order unless it is amended to include conditions requiring carriage of 100% African American-owned channels.

ES and NAAAOM's proposal provides that New Charter set aside 10% of all its activated channel capacity -- no fewer than 50 video programming services -- for the carriage of 100% African American-owned channels.  ES and NAAAOM are represented by David Goodfriend, President of Goodfriend Government Affairs.  Goodfriend is a former Deputy Staff Secretary to President Clinton and former Media Legal Advisor to FCC Commissioner Susan Ness.

"The answer is clear: Commissioner Clyburn and her colleagues must not vote to approve the Chairman's draft order unless and until the order is amended to include specific, clear, enforceable merger conditions designed to increase true African-American ownership of cable television networks," said David Goodfriend, President of Goodfriend Government Affairs. "Specifically, the FCC should adopt the proposal proffered in 2010 by former FCC Chairman Kevin Martin on behalf of ES in the then-pending Comcast/NBCU merger." 

"Commissioner Clyburn and the FCC have an immediate opportunity to correct what they did wrong with Comcast/NBCU and ensure economic inclusion for 100% African American-owned media on the Charter platform before they allow this merger," said Byron Allen, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Entertainment Studios. "The Commissioners should immediately confirm that Charter spends $4 billion a year licensing cable networks, and of that, zero dollars is spent with 100% African American-owned channels. This is completely unacceptable. Commissioner Clyburn, if you allow this merger to go through based on Chairman Wheeler's proposed order, you will have failed African-Americans at a catastrophic level for generations to come." 

The full ex parte letter sent to the FCC on April 27, 2016 can be accessed here: http://www.naaaom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Ex-Parte-Charter-Conditions.pdf

The full proposal proffered on June 21, 2010 by former FCC Chairman Kevin Martin on behalf of ES in the then-pending Comcast/NBCU merger can be accessed here: http://www.naaaom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Entertainment-Studios-Comcast-Comments.pdf

About Entertainment Studios
Entertainment Studios, Inc. owns seven 24-hour HD cable networks serving nearly 80 million subscribers: PETS.TV, COMEDY.TV, RECIPE.TV, CARS.TV, ES.TV, MYDESTINATION.TV, and JUSTICE CENTRAL.TV. The company also produces, distributes, and sells advertising for 40 television programs, making it one of the largest independent producers/distributors of first-run syndicated television programming for broadcast television stations. With a library of over 5,000 hours of owned content across multiple genres, Entertainment Studios provides video content to broadcast television stations, cable television networks, mobile devices, multimedia platforms, and the World Wide Web.  Our mission is to provide excellent programming to our viewers, online users, and Fortune 500 advertising partners. Chairman and CEO Byron Allen founded the company in 1993. Headquartered in Los Angeles, it has offices in New York, Chicago, Denver, and Raleigh.  For more information, visit: www.es.tv

About NAAAOM
NAAAOM's mission is to eliminate racial discrimination and secure the economic inclusion of truly 100% African American-owned media through fair contracting and equal treatment practices.  www.naaaom.com

SOURCE Entertainment Studios