Chris Blount
05-14-04, 07:04 AM
Just like the rest of the satellite TV business, Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association President Richard DalBello said he is concerned about a possible hike in the royalty rates paid by satellite TV providers for superstation and distant network programming.
DalBello, speaking before the Media Institute in Washington, D.C., Thursday, said he's encouraged that Capitol Hill lawmakers want to put satellite TV and cable on a level playing field when they discuss renewal of key satellite TV legislation. But added he has some anxiety about the future of the distant network/superstation royalty rate structure for satellite TV.
At the moment, a House Judiciary Committee bill would raise satellite TV's superstation/distant nets royalty rates to reflect a cost-of-living adjustment since 1999, and then require the Copyright Office to convene a Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel (or CARP) to determine the fair market value for the content, DalBello said Thursday.
"Our concern stems from the fact that in 1997, a similar mandate increased satellite's royalty rates by 350 percent," he said. "These rates then had to be re-adjusted downwards by Congress a year later to make them feasible. This system just doesn't work."
DalBello said an adjustment for inflation "is appropriate and sufficient." By comparison, cable rates are evaluated every five years and adjusted for inflation only, he added.
In a related development, the House Energy and Commerce Committee postponed a hearing scheduled for Thursday concerning the Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reauthorization Act. No reason was given for the last-minute change.
http://www.skyreport.com (Used with permission)
DalBello, speaking before the Media Institute in Washington, D.C., Thursday, said he's encouraged that Capitol Hill lawmakers want to put satellite TV and cable on a level playing field when they discuss renewal of key satellite TV legislation. But added he has some anxiety about the future of the distant network/superstation royalty rate structure for satellite TV.
At the moment, a House Judiciary Committee bill would raise satellite TV's superstation/distant nets royalty rates to reflect a cost-of-living adjustment since 1999, and then require the Copyright Office to convene a Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel (or CARP) to determine the fair market value for the content, DalBello said Thursday.
"Our concern stems from the fact that in 1997, a similar mandate increased satellite's royalty rates by 350 percent," he said. "These rates then had to be re-adjusted downwards by Congress a year later to make them feasible. This system just doesn't work."
DalBello said an adjustment for inflation "is appropriate and sufficient." By comparison, cable rates are evaluated every five years and adjusted for inflation only, he added.
In a related development, the House Energy and Commerce Committee postponed a hearing scheduled for Thursday concerning the Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reauthorization Act. No reason was given for the last-minute change.
http://www.skyreport.com (Used with permission)