FCC approves majors' request: Cable, satellite subscribers could see 1st-run films closer to theatrical debuts (WSJ)

By Wiretap Staff

Federal regulators today approved a proposal that could allow cable and satellite TV subscribers to watch first-run Hollywood movies closer to their theatrical debuts, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The FCC approved a 2008 request from the Hollywood majors that will allow them to block analog signals on TVs and video recorders when consumers purchase first-run, high-definition, on-demand movies.

Studio execs essentially want to make sure that their signals are only traveling over digital cables and plugs, which have built-in copy protections to prevent theft, the paper explains.

The change would allow the studios to offer movies on-demand shortly after their theatrical debut and months before DVD releases.

The FCC's decision stipulates that cable companies won't be able to shut off analog signals on TVs and video recorders any time they want, only when a subscriber has purchased one of the early-run on-demand movies. Further, cable and satellite companies also have to stop blocking the analog signals when the movies are released on DVD, the Journal says.