Congressional Negotiators Reach Final Agreement On Satellite Television Overhaul

11/08/99

>  thousands of Vermonters can have cut-off television service restored

>  for first time ever, home satellite dish owners can tune into their local stations with their satellite dish

>  head-to-head competition between satellite companies and cable unleashed

WASHINGTON (Nov. 8) -- Negotiators from the Senate and House, led by Senate Judiciary Committee leaders Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), have reached a final agreement on an overhaul of the home satellite viewer law, including provisions to allow for the restoration of service to thousands of Vermonters who have lost some channels and permit satellite home viewers to receive local television stations over their satellite for the first time ever.

The final Monday afternoon negotiations wrapped up several weeks of discussions in a Senate-House conference committee appointed to iron out differences between different home satellite law rewrite bills. House and Senate leaders Monday afternoon put the finishing touches on a bipartisan, comprehensive compromise that closely resembles the Hatch-Leahy Senate legislation authored by Leahy and Hatch, the Democratic Leader and Chairman of the Judiciary Committee. Leahy is a senior member of that Senate-House conference committee.

Leahy believes the final bill will be a major win for home satellite dish owners in Vermont and throughout the country. “This is a breakthrough victory for home satellite dish owners in Vermont and across the country. For the first time ever, home satellite owners can tune into their local stations with their satellite dishes and tune out the confusing and frustrating current system,” said Leahy. “This bill will level the playing field for cable and satellite dish companies by encouraging head-to-head competition, and that should lead to lower cable bills for all consumers in the long run. First and foremost, this is giant win for consumers that ushers in a first-ever era of local television over home satellite dishes.”

The final Senate-House bill:

>   for the first time ever, allows satellite carriers to provide all local television stations to satellite dish owners (so-called “local-into-local” service) under a special license, freeing up satellite companies to directly compete with cable television head-on. This also allows customers in very rural areas who have never received local television stations to receive them for the first time;

>   protects continued satellite television service for existing subscribers (of distant network stations) who do not get a city-grade broadcast signal (called “Grade A” -- in Vermont, roughly 25 - 35 miles from a station’s tower) from local stations, who otherwise would face termination of service at the end of the year;

>   urges the satellite carriers to restore service to those who do not get a city-grade signal and have already been terminated -- this represents roughly 60 percent of those in Vermont who have had some of their service cut-off; and permits satellite carriers to add back any terminated distant stations without the customer having to obtain a waiver from the local television station (the area where this service can be restored is either the “Grade B area” or the “white area” where television viewers cannot receive a clear television picture with a regular antenna);

>   until local television is offered by satellite carriers, the bill eliminates the need in most cases for home dish owners to request waivers from the local television stations to allow the satellite carriers to offer them distant network stations. Essentially, this will mean that distant television signals that were terminated can be legally restored by the satellite carrier -- if that carrier wants to provide that service and almost all carriers throughout the country should want to restore that customer service;

>   provides federal loan guarantees through the U.S. Department of Agriculture of up to $1.25 billion – maximum single loan: $625 million -- to finance the costs of extending local television service by satellite or other means to local broadcast markets nationwide, especially small and rural markets.

>   allows for first time ever, television stations such as WPTZ, WNNE, WCAX, WVNY, FOX and PBS stations to be offered over satellite throughout Vermont -- except in Bennington and Windham counties. Vermonters throughout the state will be able to receive the local WCAX CBS affiliate from Burlington, WNNE-TV from White River Junction, WPTZ-TV out of Plattsburg-Burlington area and WVNY-TV out of Burlington. Bennington and Windham Counties will receive local television service from Albany or Boston markets, as is the case now.

>   for those living in the “white area,” allows satellite carriers to offer an “East Coast” and “West Coast” feed for each network station, in addition to the local station; thus, for example, a carrier could offer an in-state CBS station and two OTHER distance CBS stations;

>   sets up a consumer-friendly process to determine if individuals are eligible for distant network service, and eliminates any eligibility question where local signals are available;

>   in those cases where a waiver from the local televison station is required, it requires broadcasters to quickly respond to consumer requests for waivers, and deems the waiver approved if the broadcaster does not respond to a waiver request in 30 days;

>   makes it easier for consumers to get either a waiver or an eligibility test for distant network service in the event a waiver request is denied; requires that the industry, not the consumer, pay for the testing;

>   protects superstations (such as WOR, WGN) which can still be offered over satellite;

>   makes a national PBS satellite feed available nationwide to all satellite consumers, and at a reduced copyright rate;

>   eliminates the 90-day waiting period for current cable subscribers who want to switch to satellite service;

>   sets the copyright rate for local television signals at zero, ensuring such signals will be available at consumer-friendly rates;

>   cuts the satellite copyright rates for distant network signals by as much as 45 percent;

>   ultimately imposes (by 2002) “must carry” rules on satellite providers just like the “must carry” rules for cable television (this permits a phase-in of local-to-local service);

>   protects C-Band dish owners (the large dishes no longer manufactured) by allowing them to keep their stations.

Leahy pointed to the massive volume of mail his office had received during the last two years as evidence that this issue has been a high-priority for thousands of Vermonters. In the last year, the senator has received more than 1,600 letters and calls from Vermont home satellite owners. The volume of correspondence surpasses all other legislative issues and comes in a close second to the impeachment trial, the recent highwater mark for constituent correspondence.

There are approximately 70,000 home satellite dish owners in Vermont and 12 million nationwide.

Leahy also emphasized that the spot beam satellites that make “local-into-local” service possible have not yet been launched. In addition, ground stations need to be built to beam local stations’ signals up to those satellites, which then beam the signal back to viewers in Vermont and the rest of the country. This is expected to take 2 - 3years. In the meantime, though, the bill allows for the restoration of lost distant network stations for most Vermonters who have already lost some service and permanently halts any scheduled service cut-offs in the future.

The Vermont senator has met several times with the CEOs of major satellite carriers, such as Capitol Broadcasting, to urge them to offer that technology to Vermont markets as soon as its available. Capitol Broadcasting has already committed to serving Vermont once its spot beam technology satellites have been launched and other technological requirements have been put in place -- again, expected to take 2 - 3 years.

The House and Senate next week are expected to vote on the final bill soon, possibly as early as Tuesday, and then send it to President Clinton.