Chris Blount
10-22-04, 07:11 AM
A number of entities - including DirecTV and the National Association of Broadcasters - sent a joint letter to senators Thursday asking for support of a five-year extension of the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act (SHVIA) and other legislative provisions for the satellite TV industry.
The group signing the letter also included the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, Motion Picture Association of America and the nation's big sports leagues, but it didn't include EchoStar. The letter reminded senators that key provisions contained in SHVIA, including those governing the satellite delivery of distant network stations and superstations, expire Dec. 31 unless given an extension.
"With this in mind – after months of difficult negotiations, and in no small part because of the extraordinary hard work of members and their staffs in both the Senate and House – we have been able to find common ground on virtually all of the important issues associated with SHVIA reauthorization," the letter stated.
In a separate statement, EchoStar said it hopes the Senate "will act in the best interests of the American public by allowing TV viewers to receive a distant network signal in high definition, in places where the signal remains inaccessible due to broadcasters' refusal to build out their digital systems as promised."
The company added, "We also hope the Senate will allow time for us to transfer the local channels of thousands of customers onto one satellite dish, without creating a situation in which we would have to disrupt service indefinitely to those customers. While DirecTV's alignment with the broadcasting lobby on this issue is disturbing, it is not surprising, since DirecTV is controlled by a broadcasting company."
Among the items pushed by the entities in the letter:
*Allow satellite TV to import out-of market "significantly viewed" stations from adjoining markets, subject to safeguards;
*Implement a gradual "no-distant-where-local" concept, in which satellite TV cannot offer distant signals where satellite-delivered local TV packages are available;
*Phase out the use of two dishes for reception of some local TV stations for a particular market, in which more significantly viewed TV stations are delivered via core satellites and other stations are put on wing satellites;
*Create a mechanism for satellite TV operators and copyright owners to jointly submit proposed royalty rates to the Copyright Office, which can accept the agreed-upon rates without the need for a royalty arbitration panel.
The letter also urged senators to review recently passed House legislation that addresses SHVIA's renewal, which it said is endorsed by almost all industry stakeholders including local broadcasters, TV networks, cable operators and programmers, professional and collegiate sports organizations, the film industry and DirecTV.
The group letter also said a quick-fix SHVIA extension would not serve the public interest. "A temporary extension would serve only to delay the resolution of many SHVIA-related issues, and indeed would result in the undoing of the compromises reached over the past few months," the letter said.
The Digital Transition Coalition, a group backed by EchoStar and others urging a quick digital TV switch, blasted the letter, saying it represents the interests "of many broadcasters and does not support the interests of many Americans through its exclusion of the 'digital white area' provision that is included in the Senate Commerce Committee's version of the SHVIA reauthorization. Currently, there are more than 39 million households nationwide that cannot receive ABC, NBC, CBS, or FOX in digital from their local broadcaster," the coalition said.
http://www.skyreport.com (Used with permission)
The group signing the letter also included the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, Motion Picture Association of America and the nation's big sports leagues, but it didn't include EchoStar. The letter reminded senators that key provisions contained in SHVIA, including those governing the satellite delivery of distant network stations and superstations, expire Dec. 31 unless given an extension.
"With this in mind – after months of difficult negotiations, and in no small part because of the extraordinary hard work of members and their staffs in both the Senate and House – we have been able to find common ground on virtually all of the important issues associated with SHVIA reauthorization," the letter stated.
In a separate statement, EchoStar said it hopes the Senate "will act in the best interests of the American public by allowing TV viewers to receive a distant network signal in high definition, in places where the signal remains inaccessible due to broadcasters' refusal to build out their digital systems as promised."
The company added, "We also hope the Senate will allow time for us to transfer the local channels of thousands of customers onto one satellite dish, without creating a situation in which we would have to disrupt service indefinitely to those customers. While DirecTV's alignment with the broadcasting lobby on this issue is disturbing, it is not surprising, since DirecTV is controlled by a broadcasting company."
Among the items pushed by the entities in the letter:
*Allow satellite TV to import out-of market "significantly viewed" stations from adjoining markets, subject to safeguards;
*Implement a gradual "no-distant-where-local" concept, in which satellite TV cannot offer distant signals where satellite-delivered local TV packages are available;
*Phase out the use of two dishes for reception of some local TV stations for a particular market, in which more significantly viewed TV stations are delivered via core satellites and other stations are put on wing satellites;
*Create a mechanism for satellite TV operators and copyright owners to jointly submit proposed royalty rates to the Copyright Office, which can accept the agreed-upon rates without the need for a royalty arbitration panel.
The letter also urged senators to review recently passed House legislation that addresses SHVIA's renewal, which it said is endorsed by almost all industry stakeholders including local broadcasters, TV networks, cable operators and programmers, professional and collegiate sports organizations, the film industry and DirecTV.
The group letter also said a quick-fix SHVIA extension would not serve the public interest. "A temporary extension would serve only to delay the resolution of many SHVIA-related issues, and indeed would result in the undoing of the compromises reached over the past few months," the letter said.
The Digital Transition Coalition, a group backed by EchoStar and others urging a quick digital TV switch, blasted the letter, saying it represents the interests "of many broadcasters and does not support the interests of many Americans through its exclusion of the 'digital white area' provision that is included in the Senate Commerce Committee's version of the SHVIA reauthorization. Currently, there are more than 39 million households nationwide that cannot receive ABC, NBC, CBS, or FOX in digital from their local broadcaster," the coalition said.
http://www.skyreport.com (Used with permission)