Montero named “Lawyers Who Make Cable Deals Legal”

The coming year promises to be deal-filled, partly owing to Comcast’s planned spinoff of systems after acquiring Time Warner Cable, plus further corporate consolidation the big merger will inspire. That’s one reason getting the best legal advice is important for everyone in the communications business.

Multichannel News is introducing this roster of lawyers who matter, to accompany the three-year-old Financial All-Stars list (the latest edition of which appeared in the Feb. 17 edition).

Francisco Montero

Title: Co-Managing Partner, Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth, Washington, D.C.

Background: Frank Montero’s practice includes corporate finance, asset and securities acquisitions, intellectual property, and real estate and commercial transactions, as well as Federal Communications Commission regulatory counseling. He served as director of the FCC’s Office of Communications Business Opportunities, where he worked with industry, trade associations, financing institutions and governmental agencies to create business opportunities for entrepreneurs, startups and other small businesses. He is a member of the Federal Advisory Committee on Diversity for Communications in the Digital Age and on the board of directors of the Independent Spanish Broadcasters Association (ISBA), which he co-founded. The FCC has recognized Montero for “dedication to bridging the digital divide.” Montero is a graduate of the George Washington University Law School.

Notable Cable Deals: Montero has counseled Spanish-language television networks on carriage and content distribution. Clients have included Ecuavisa, Vme, Soi TV, Buenavision, La Cadena del Milagro and Caribevision. He expects that deals involving sports programming rights, especially carriage rights for Latin American soccer (which is growing in popularity), will become even more active among cable and satellite carriers.

Outlook for 2014: “Companies, especially those with popular sports programming, are seeing great demand, which places them in a very good position. Right now, everyone has eyes on what will happen with the Aereo appeal to the Supreme Court and the fallout if the court sides with Aereo (although that increasingly seems unlikely), especially what cable companies will do. On the satellite side, we’re closely watching the STELA reauthorization and proposals that would impact retransmission negotiations.” )

Courtesy of Multichannel News