[opendtv] News: Smut, Sats, DTV Unresolved
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: OpenDTV Mail List <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 13 Oct 2004 10:36:47 -0400
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA471489.html?display=Breaking+News&referral=SUPP
Smut, Sats, DTV Unresolved
By Bill McConnell -- Broadcasting & Cable, 10/12/2004 4:49:00 PM
Members of Congress have fled Washington to campaign at home for the
Nov. 2 elections, leaving behind three major media issues that must
be wrapped up when lawmakers return, either for a lame-duck session
soon after the balloting is over or in the 2005 Congress.
The House and Senate are furthest apart and are likely to face the
toughest battle over plans to reclaim broadcasters' analog spectrum.
The House, led by Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton, last week
passed on voice vote a non-binding "sense" of the House calling on
the government to reclaim all TV stations' analog channels by the end
of 2006. Barton's committee had not voted on TV reclamation
legislation previously and the language passed by the House would not
have the force of law.
The measure is much tougher on the industry than a DTV conversion
measure contained in the Senate anti-terrorism bill, which would
reclaim only chs. 62 and higher by the end of 2007.
The Senate's version closely resembles legislation passed by the
Senate Commerce Committee and is intended to go into effect as law.
Barton rallied House colleagues to pass the non-binding language in
order to have the House position on paper when the two sides of
Capitol Hill begin negotiating a final version of the anti-terrorism
bill next month.
Barton's hope is that the non-binding language will give House
negotiators enough muscle to toughen the language in the
anti-terrorism bill to make broadcasters return more of their analog
channels quicker. If Congress takes no action on reclaiming analog
channels, stations won't be required to return the frequencies until
85% of TV households in their markets are equipped to receive DTV
signals, a process that could add years or even decades to the
transition.
New anti-indecency restrictions on broadcasters will be up for
debate as well. After blocking a Senate version last week, North
Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan is on board with a plan to boost FCC fines
to a $500,000 maximum per incident, up from $27,500 today. Multiple
violations in a 24-hour period would be capped at $3 million. The
increased fines would be applied to performers as well as stations.
To prevent the FCC from dawdling, the bill would require the FCC to
propose a fine or clear the station within nine months of a
complaint. Fines must be made final after a second nine months. The
House passed indecency legislation mirroring the Senate bill, which
is sponsored by Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback. The near agreement of the
two version increases likelihood that Congress will pass indecency
legislation before final adjournment late this year.
Finally, the House has passed legislation extending the satellite TV
providers' right to import broadcast network programming to
households that can't receive an acceptable analog version from their
local affiliates. The right expires Dec. 31.
The House rejected DBS providers' bid for right to import digital
network programming too and added ordered DBS companies to phase out
the practice of requiring some viewers to install a second dish to
receive all the local channels in their market.
The Senate failed to pass a companion version. When Congress
reconvenes, Senators have the option of voting on the House version,
crafting their own version or simply extending the right to import
analog channels for one year. Given the likelihood of a continued
lobbying battle over importing digital channels, the Senate is
expected to insist on a simple one-year extension.
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