/ 09.16.2009 12:00AM
House Panel Passes Satellite TV Bill
WASHINGTON: The
House Judiciary Committee today unanimously approved the Satellite Home Viewer
Update and Reauthorization Act of 2009. The bill, H.R.
3570, extends the previous iteration of the legislation by five years,
allowing pay TV providers limited access to broadcast signals outside of a
station’s given market.
Dow Jones reported.
Lawmakers said future carriage rights should be negotiated in a free market.
Likewise legislation must be approved by the House Energy and Commerce
Committee before it gets put to a floor vote.
More on TV signal carriage legislation:
July 15, 2009: “Congressman
Bows Bill to Import TV Signals”
Arkansas Democrat Mike Ross is pushing legislation to overturn the current
rules governing which broadcast signals satellite and cable operators can
carry. Ross is member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, where he
intends to refer the so-called “Local Television Freedom Act of 2009.”
June 25, 2009: “SHVERA Passes House
Subcommittee”
The only changes
to the legislation as it was written in 2004 were the date and the provision to
measure digital signal coverage using the Longley-Rice model employed by the
FCC. The bill renews satellite carriage of certain out-of-market broadcast
signals for another five years.
June 16, 2009: “Broadcasters Battle for
Signal Protection”
span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";">The broadcast lobby is playing the localism card in a big way as Congress
considers the renewal of the Satellite Home Viewer Extension and
Reauthorization Act. Cable and satellite operators are agitating to import the
signals of TV stations in distant markets, while broadcasters contend that
doing so will destroy incumbent stations. Currently, the law allows carriers to
provide distant signals to households that cannot receive TV stations in their
own designated market areas.
May 8, 2009: “ACA Says Retrans is
Squeezing Too Hard”
span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";">The cable industry has not yet rolled over on retransmission consent, whether
or not it comes up in pending satellite copyright legislation. The American
Cable Association this week released a summary of how broadcasters reaped hefty
retrans fees from cable operators in the first quarter of this year. The
broadcast lobby in turn released numbers showing how much money cable operators
are making from subscribers.
March 30, 2009: “Network Affiliates Urge
Lawmakers to Preserve Distant-Signal Limits”
CBS and NBC are urging key lawmakers to maintain restrictions on what TV
stations cable and satellite operators can carry in a given market. The
networks today penned separate letters to members of the House and Senate
committees handling the renewal of SHVERA, the Satellite Home Viewer Extension
and Reauthorization Act.