Tony Cardenas: aa eat Congress of the United States a 2h Distect, €aitornia December 6, 2019 Mr, Brian Roberts Me, Jelfrey Hirsch Chiet Executive Officer Chief Executive Officer Comeast Corporation STARZ 1701 John F. Kennedy Boulevard 8900 Liberty Circle Philadelphia, PA 19103-2838 Englewood, CO 80112-7087 Dear Messrs, Roberts and Hirsch: ‘We write today to share our concerns regarding the impending removal of STARZ programming from Comeast and the impacts to our eabe subscribing constituents. We urge both partes to work in good faith and come to a workable resolution that benefits consumers, [STARZ has a track record of hiring diverse talent — showrunners, writers, producers, actors, and crewmembers — to produce diverse content, Their groundbreaking programming includes shows ind “Outlander,” along with other content that features a broad range of perspectives and voices that continue to be overlooked by many major networks and industry heads, ‘The loss of STARZ to Comeast customers will impact millions of subscribers across the country. kis ritical that consumers are not forced to pay for programming they cannot see, especially for those that signed on to long-term contracts for packages that included STARZ. We are specifically ‘concemed that customers will be negatively impacted, making it more expensive to access the diverse programming they have paid for. Its our firm belief that both companies must understand that American consumers cannot be used as leverage and should be able to consume broad and diverse programming. Comeast, itself, recognized the importance of this responsibility when it, along with NBC Universal, signed a Memoranda of Understanding on diversity with the Asian American Justice Center, East West Players, Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility, Japanese American Citizens League, Media Action Network, NAACP, National Action Network, National Hispanic Leadership Agenda, National Hispanic Media Coalition, National Urban League, and Organization of Chinese Americans. Further, we must note that these memoranda” were inslrumental in securing the support of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, Congressional Black Caucus, and Congressional Hispanic Caucus for Comeas's acquisition of NBC Universal This matter is of great interest to us considering the effect of the dispute between STARZ and ‘Comeast and the loss of programming to subscribers in our distits and, additionally, that it may further negatively impact the diversity of the media landseape.Once again, we urge Comcast and STARZ to negotiate in good faith, find a resolution to this, dispute, and limit the impacts to our constituents. Americans will benefit from a fair market ‘agreement that ensures continued access to diverse perspectives and programs, Sincerely, he "TONY CARDENAS BO} SH Member of Congress sf Congress JOAQUIN CASTRO. JIMMY GOMEZ Member of Congress Member of Congress RAUL RUIZ, MD. Member of Congress