U.S. SENATOR PATRICK LEAHY

House Passes Leahy Measure to Expand Local TV Service
To Windham and Bennington Counties

[(WEDNESDAY, Oct. 6) –  A bill sponsored and negotiated by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) that would expand local television service to satellite dish owners in Bennington and Windham Counties cleared the House of Representatives Wednesday.  The measure, included as part of a comprehensive satellite television bill, reauthorizes several provisions of a 1999 law that Leahy, the Democratic ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, coauthored with Sen. Orrin Hatch, (R-Utah), the panel’s chairman.  Several key provisions of that law are set to expire at the end of the year if Congress does not reauthorize it.  That law restored and expanded satellite television service to millions of households across the country and thousands in Vermont.  It significantly expanded service to viewers by allowing dish owners for the first time to receive their local television stations containing local news, emergency alerts, community events as well as the full range of movie, sports, entertainment, history and other channels.  As a result of the law, Vermont Public Television (VPT), and other local networks began offering services to satellite dish owners across Vermont in 2002.  The service at that time was offered in all regions but Windham and Bennington counties in the southern part of the state.  The new Leahy-led bill will expand service further, to both counties.  The House bill now moves to the Senate for its consideration.  Below is Senator Leahy’s statement on the House’s action.]  

Statement of Senator Patrick Leahy
On the Satellite Home Viewer Act 

October 6, 2004 

MR. LEAHY:  Mr. President, I am very pleased that the other body just passed their version of the Satellite Home Viewer Act under suspension of the rules.  H.R. 4518, “The W.J. (Billy) Tauzin Satellite Television Act of 2004,” is a strong bill. 

During this process, I have heard from many Vermonters who are concerned about not being able to receive Vermont stations over satellite.  Others have been concerned about possibly having their ability to receive certain stations terminated.  One reason for these strong concerns is that Vermont has the highest percentage in the nation of TV owners who receive programming using satellite dishes.  One reason for this is our beautiful mountains and valleys which make it more difficult to receive TV signals using regular antennas.   

The Hatch-Leahy “Satellite Home Viewer Extension Act of 2004” was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee in June.  All the Members of the Judiciary Committee supported our bill. 

In the other body, Members of both the Judiciary Committee and the Energy and Commerce Committee worked together in a bipartisan fashion to craft a comprehensive bill which will be good for consumers and for the affected industries.  That bill, if enacted, will be a boon to public television, the satellite industry, the movie, music and television industries, and to satellite dish owners throughout America. 

I am especially pleased that it contains a provision which I worked on with my colleagues from New Hampshire, Senator Sununu and Senator Gregg.  We, along with Senator Jeffords, introduced legislation to ensure that satellite dish owners in every county in each of our states would be able to receive signals, via satellite, from our respective in-state television stations.  While our two states represent a small television market as compared to some of the major population markets, nonetheless this provision is very important to residents in six of our collective counties – two in Vermont and four counties in New Hampshire. The Senate bill, S. 2013, as reported in June by the Judiciary Committee also contained this provision just included in H.R. 4518.  

In Vermont this will mean that satellite dish owners in Bennington and Windham Counties will be able to receive all Vermont network stations in addition to the out-of-state network stations they now receive.  

It is very important that in the waning days of this Congress that the Senate enact this satellite legislation. In 1998 and 1999 over two million families were faced with the prospect of losing the ability to receive one or more of their satellite television network stations.  Back then, Congress acted and not only protected access to those stations but also expanded consumer opportunities to receive more programming options. 

Families who own satellite dishes may end up being the big losers if provisions of that Act are not extended.  Many Midwestern and Rocky Mountain states have vast areas where satellite dish owners receive imported network stations such as ABC, NBC, CBS or Fox.  Thousands of these families do not have any other choices.  They do not have access to TV stations over-the-air because of mountain terrain or distance from the broadcast towers.  They do not have access to cable because of the rough terrain or the lack of population density which makes it economically impossible for cable companies to invest.  Without access to network stations via satellite, over-the-air, or cable those families will no longer be able to receive national news programming or other network TV programming. 

If Congress does not reauthorize provisions of current law by December 31, 2004, hundreds of thousands of households will lose satellite access to network TV stations.  Since information about subscribers is proprietary it is difficult for me to tell you exactly how many families will be affected by this, but I assure you it is not a small number. 

The Senate Judiciary Committee got its job done in June.  We reported a great bill out of Committee without a single amendment and without a single nay vote. That bill was introduced on January 21, 2004, by Chairman Hatch and was cosponsored by myself and Senators DeWine and Kohl.  When the bill was reported out of Committee on June 17, 2004, I noted that the bill does far more than just protect satellite dish owners from losing signals.   I pointed out that the new satellite bill “protects subscribers in every state, expands viewing choices for most dish owners, promotes access to local programming, and increases direct, head-to-head, competition between cable and satellite providers.” 

I continued by saying that, “easily, this bill will benefit 21 million satellite television dish owners throughout the nation, and I am happy to note that over 85,000 of those subscribers are in Vermont.” 

The Senate Judiciary Committee-reported bill, and the recently passed bill H.R. 4518, go far beyond protecting what current subscribers receive.  The bills allow additional programming via satellite through adoption of the so-call “significantly viewed” test now used for cable, but not satellite subscribers.  That test means that, in general, if a person in a cable service area that historically received over-the-air TV reception from “nearby” stations outside that area, those cable operators could offer those station signals in that person’s cable service area.  In other words, if you were in an area in which most families in the past had received TV signals using a regular rooftop antenna then you could be offered that same signal TV via cable.  By having similar rules, satellite carriers will be able to directly compete with cable providers who already operate under the significantly viewed test.  This gives home dish owners more choices of programming. 

In the past, Congress got the job done.  Congress worked well together in 1998 and 1999 when we developed a major satellite law that transformed the industry by allowing local television stations to be carried by satellite and beamed back down to the local communities served by those stations.  This marked the first time that thousands of TV owners were able to get the full complement of local network stations.  In 1997 we found a way to avoid cutoffs of satellite TV service to millions of homes and to protect the local affiliate broadcast system.  The following year we forged an alliance behind a strong satellite bill to permit local stations to be offered by satellite, thus increasing competition between cable and satellite providers. 

We also worked with the Public Broadcasting System so they could offer a national feed as they transitioned to having their local programming beamed up to satellites and then beamed back down to much larger audiences. 

Because of those efforts, in Vermont and most other states, dish owners are able to watch their local stations instead of getting signals from distant stations.  Such a service allows television watchers to be more easily connected to their communities as well as providing access to necessary emergency signals, news and broadcasts. 

Mr. President, I hope we are able to work together to finish this important satellite television bill in the few remaining days of this Congress.  

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