Chris Blount
04-05-04, 06:59 AM
Draft legislation circulated among members of the House Telecommunications and the Internet Subcommittee last week concerning renewal of the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act was short on details, but offered insight on what lawmakers are looking to do with a future bill.
The draft bill, submitted for discussion purposes only during a subcommittee hearing Thursday, contained the one-dish locals mandate. The proposal would require satellite TV companies to deliver local TV programming to consumers via a single dish.
The draft proposed giving satellite TV companies 180 days after the bill's enactment to place locals on a single dish. Satellite TV companies could also obtain a temporary waiver - on a market-by-market basis - that would grant an additional 180 days to deliver local TV programming via a single dish.
A good portion of the draft targeted testing procedures for determining the availability of off-air signals and eligibility for satellite-delivered distant networks. The proposed legislation would ask the Federal Communications Commission to initiate an inquiry to determine appropriate methodologies or models for determining which satellite TV subscribers are in locations where the subscriber is unable, on and after Jan. 1, 2007, to receive broadcast digital TV signals of sufficient intensity.
Of course, the legislation was a draft created by Congressional staff, and was used as a starting point for lawmakers to discuss the issues and piece together a final version of the bill. Subcommittee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) is expected to introduce a marked-up final bill in a few weeks, which at the moment is known as the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Reauthorization Act.
One Wall Street analyst, Craig Moffett of Sanford C. Bernstein and Co., said the House draft appears to favor broadcasters over satellite TV - as expected. And the mandates, if enacted, could be costly to EchoStar, which places a number of local TV channels via a second dish for a select set of markets.
"EchoStar has argued that the provision could force them to drop local service in 30 markets – and prevent the launch of many new ones – due to capacity constraints," Moffett said. "Dropping local service would negatively impact ARPU, and could potentially trigger material subscriber losses."
http://www.skyreport.com (Used with permission)
The draft bill, submitted for discussion purposes only during a subcommittee hearing Thursday, contained the one-dish locals mandate. The proposal would require satellite TV companies to deliver local TV programming to consumers via a single dish.
The draft proposed giving satellite TV companies 180 days after the bill's enactment to place locals on a single dish. Satellite TV companies could also obtain a temporary waiver - on a market-by-market basis - that would grant an additional 180 days to deliver local TV programming via a single dish.
A good portion of the draft targeted testing procedures for determining the availability of off-air signals and eligibility for satellite-delivered distant networks. The proposed legislation would ask the Federal Communications Commission to initiate an inquiry to determine appropriate methodologies or models for determining which satellite TV subscribers are in locations where the subscriber is unable, on and after Jan. 1, 2007, to receive broadcast digital TV signals of sufficient intensity.
Of course, the legislation was a draft created by Congressional staff, and was used as a starting point for lawmakers to discuss the issues and piece together a final version of the bill. Subcommittee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) is expected to introduce a marked-up final bill in a few weeks, which at the moment is known as the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Reauthorization Act.
One Wall Street analyst, Craig Moffett of Sanford C. Bernstein and Co., said the House draft appears to favor broadcasters over satellite TV - as expected. And the mandates, if enacted, could be costly to EchoStar, which places a number of local TV channels via a second dish for a select set of markets.
"EchoStar has argued that the provision could force them to drop local service in 30 markets – and prevent the launch of many new ones – due to capacity constraints," Moffett said. "Dropping local service would negatively impact ARPU, and could potentially trigger material subscriber losses."
http://www.skyreport.com (Used with permission)