SHVA Need to get it revised.

[brothernet]

Its been a while since we seen the SHVA ACT. Now that satellite customers have grown and satellite companies have been offering many more markets we find problems with two or more DMAs that you can receive over the air but only can recieve your designated DMA over the satellite.

This is one of my revisions.
:( :( :( :( :( :(
SHVA should be revised stating that a county and/or city that have at least a GRADE B in two or more DMA markets overair shall be able to receive these DMAs over satellite if they are available and not be restricted to the designated DMA that Nielson implies on consumers.

[TNGTony]

The SHVIA is up for review and renewal by the end of 2004. I must be acted on by congress otherwise it ceases to exist. Call and snail-mail your rep and senator. E-mails carry little no no weight.

See ya
Tony

[scooper]

I don't think it is sunset'ed, and be careful what you ask for (re: changes) - you might get it....

Items I see changing if they make revisions -
#1 - if your locals are available on DBS, then you are "served", and even if you are well outside the Grade B profile of your broadcasters, you won't be eligible for Out of Market feeds.
#2 - Superstations ?
#3 - All stations in an offered DMA on a single slot

[jrbdmb]

I don't think it is sunset'ed, and be careful what you ask for (re: changes) - you might get it....

Items I see changing if they make revisions -
#1 - if your locals are available on DBS, then you are "served", and even if you are well outside the Grade B profile of your broadcasters, you won't be eligible for Out of Market feeds.
#2 - Superstations ?
#3 - All stations in an offered DMA on a single slotOnly thing about #1 - am I really "served" if I have to pay a DBS company (or cable company, for that matter) to get me the signal?

[scooper]

Well - I don't think so, but the broadcasters want it to be that way... Or at least use that as justification to deny out-of-market network feeds.

[SamC]

What I would do:

- DBS can offer any station that any cable company serving that same zip code offers, regardless of DMA boundries.

- Any customer in an unserved by locals markets is automatically eligiable for either distant locals, or locals from any market whose spot happens to reach his dish, UNTIL the local station objects.

- If the local station objects, and the home viewer is more than 40 miles from the signal source and wins a signal test, the station pays a fine of $500.

- WB and UPN are considered "networks" and people w/o them can qualify for distants in the same manner as other networks.

- "Must carry" for local does not apply to stations that receive less than a 2.0 aggrigate rating in the market. (Pax, paid religion, non-English, home shopping, multiple PBS duplicates).

[Earl Zuberbelt]

The SHVIA is up for review and renewal by the end of 2004. I must be acted on by congress otherwise it ceases to exist. Call and snail-mail your rep and senator. E-mails carry little no no weight.

See ya
Tony

Senators and House reps both come to your state more than you think, and both schedule time for meetings with constituents, mainly the town hall variety.

House members are easier to schedule time with, but I do recommend calling their local office, finding out when they're next in time and scheduling time.

Be persistant and you'll get time.

You'd be surprised just how impactful your comments can be if you get the chance to speak with them one on one.

-Earl
Yankee born Southern bred

[Mark Holtz]

I cannot emphasize enough the fact that snail mail is required. E-mails can be redirected to /dev/null. A public fax number can be hooked up to a computer and modem and be easily "lost". But, someone has to open up and read each mail, and it makes more of an impression that you took the time to write.

To find out who your local representative is, see http://www.vote-smart.org/

[James Long]

I don't think it is sunset'ed, and be careful what you ask for (re: changes) - you might get it....

Items I see changing if they make revisions -
#1 - if your locals are available on DBS, then you are "served", and even if you are well outside the Grade B profile of your broadcasters, you won't be eligible for Out of Market feeds.
#2 - Superstations ?
#3 - All stations in an offered DMA on a single slot
How about opening up distants for ANYONE who has locals? :D

#1 I expect *will* happen. You have to pay for locals or distants. The NAB seems to prefer you buy locals.
#2 I expect Superstations will remain, with blackouts for syndex.
#3 Is "too much of a burden on satellite providers". I don't like putting the lesser channels on the wings - I don't like the thought of "lesser channels" - but DBS is not required to carry locals at all. Put too much regulation on it and locals will go away, thwarting #1.

JL

[music_beans]

Can there be no SHVIA?

[TNGTony]

Sure, but then there is no legal way to get distant networks or even local into local without convoluted negotiations with program copyright holders and endless law suits. Kind of what happened before the SHVA.

See ya
Tony

[James Long]

Can there be no SHVIA?
Sure, as long as the FCC regulations on locals remain in place. You would lose all distants, unless they got their acts together and worked out a plan allow them. SHVIA just handles payment for distants ... not permission to air.

JL

[spanishannouncetable]

I vote to maintain the status quo. IMHO, if it ain't broke, don't fix it :)

[Guesst925XTU]

That would greatly help DBS sales in the State of New Jersey.

Every cable company in both Ocean County and Mercer County carries both Philadelphia and New York broadcast stations.

The current SHIVA is a major stumbling block for DBS in New Jersey.

[Greg Bimson]

I vote to maintain the status quo. IMHO, if it ain't broke, don't fix itThere is a problem with this.

If nothing is done, grandfathered subscribers lose their distant networks on December 31, 2004.

If something is done, it may change quite a bit of the language regarding served and unserved network subscribers.

It will be interesting.

[Geronimo]

As far as I know the only thing that si sunsetted is the provision that allows grandfathering of distent nets.

[jrbdmb]

I can't imagine that the NAB will allow grandfathered distant NETs subs to get these channels past the end of 2004. And any changes to the qualification rules for distant NETs will almost certainly be bad for satellite subs. I vote for "leave well enough alone".

[Geronimo]

I stand corrected. Apparently the section on superstations is sunsetted as well.

[Brett]

What I would do:
- WB and UPN are considered "networks" and people w/o them can qualify for distants in the same manner as other networks.



There are more customers that can qualify for WB and UPN through the superstations than there are customers that can qualify for distant networks (of ABC, NBC, CBS, or Fox).

Syndex has been overexaggerated. Few stations have asked for blackout deletions. Even if every major full power commercial station asked for syndex (which isnt the case...not every station has exclusive rights in their contract), the superstations would still have larger reach than distant networks (which can only be sold to white areas). Syndicated exclusivity would only limit the major city's and the immediate radius of 35 miles.

It just happens one DBS provider thinks WB and UPN are declasse for their business interests, and has chosen to bypass carrying the superstations for national distribution, even after the FCC grandfathered the stations for benefit of satellite subscribers.

WB and UPN dont program sports. The local stations may, but not for national viewing. DirecTV believed superstation delivery wouldnt best serve their generic customer base. DirecTV had NFL Ticket exclusivity (and some other exclusivities over Echostar) and thats all that mattered to their management, and sale of superstations was a distraction to the sports packages. Their parent company chose selling off to Echostar, even if it meant screwing the DirecTV customer.

Tribune Media, the largest owner of WB stations, knows its stations: WPIX, KTLA and WGN being distributed nationally (on Dish Network and C-Band) and ENJOYS that its stations have expanded coverage on satellite. Tribune even is asking Comcast to distribute its Chicago flagship WGN on more digital cable lineups nationwide. Tribune has been all about improving exposure for their Tribune TV product (its Tribune syndicated shows: www.tribtv.com) and improving WGN, WPIX, and KTLA. Of Tribune's fleet of 35 stations, no Tribune station has asked for syndex protection.

In case example: Tribune doesnt mind Echostar selling WPIX, KWGN and KTLA in Philadelphia, even if it cannibalizes the ratings challenged WPHL 17 station they own locally. To prevent mass taking of superstations, Echostar sells them at the $1.50/per station, ($5.99 packaged) which wont get as many customers as other package deals. More customers (in Philadelphia) are likely to order the Philadelphia locals, thus WPHL isnt directly hurt by Echostar's side sale of WPIX here to probably only few customers who are interested in New York news, want to see Will & Grace rerun half our earlier, or have some remembrance of what the (WPIX) station used to be.

Why should superstations and the protection of them change? If Tribune doesnt care, few UPN stations have bothered asking for change or further limitation, customers are happy, Echostar makes a sale, there is no point in change.

If WB and UPN were to be treated like NBC and ABC for distant delivery, the FCC or Congress would have nulled the better protection that the WB and UPN affiliated superstations currently have. And also, DirecTV is under no obligation to sell distant networks to begin with. e.g. They don't have to continue keeping WABC and KABC on CONUS for distant ABC delivery. Thus, its a moot point.

[Bill_KY]

SHVIA Wishlist

I for one would like to see a provision that what ever I can get with my OTA antenna, I should also be able able to get on DBS ( if the DBS company has those channels available on satellite) and on top of this a set limit of $7.00 for all the markets I could receive.

So this means since I already get 4 over the air markets, I should be able to receive them on DBS. Cincinnati, Dayton, Lexington and Louisville.

Also I would like to see all the Distant Stations from LA and NY would be freely available for all to purchase, with no blackouts or restrictions.

Yea, I know the law and the rules...but its a wish list.

[TheRatPatrol]

SHVIA Wishlist

I for one would like to see a provision that what ever I can get with my OTA antenna, I should also be able able to get on DBS ( if the DBS company has those channels available on satellite) and on top of this a set limit of $7.00 for all the markets I could receive.

So this means since I already get 4 over the air markets, I should be able to receive them on DBS. Cincinnati, Dayton, Lexington and Louisville.

Also I would like to see all the Distant Stations from LA and NY would be freely available for all to purchase, with no blackouts or restrictions.

Yea, I know the law and the rules...but its a wish list.

I agree, if you're willing to pay for the channels, and they're on DBS, then you should be able to get them. It won't happen though.

I would at least like to see them offer local news casts from other cities, so if you're from one place and live another, you can at least see whats going on back in your hometown.

[Mark Holtz]

I would at least like to see them offer local news casts from other cities, so if you're from one place and live another, you can at least see whats going on back in your hometown.Not always true. Both Dish Network and DirecTV use spotbeam technology to deliver markets and reuse the same transponder frequencies. I don't know about DirecTV maps, but for Dish Network, the spot beams from EchoStar 7 and 8 deliver Sacramento, San Francisco, Reno, and Chico locals. However, since Salt Lake City is located on another spot beam, I am not able to receive those locals at all.

[TheRatPatrol]

Not always true. Both Dish Network and DirecTV use spotbeam technology to deliver markets and reuse the same transponder frequencies. I don't know about DirecTV maps, but for Dish Network, the spot beams from EchoStar 7 and 8 deliver Sacramento, San Francisco, Reno, and Chico locals. However, since Salt Lake City is located on another spot beam, I am not able to receive those locals at all.

OH DUH! I totally forgot about spot beams, my bad! But at least the NY and LA news would be cool to watch once in a while.