US broadcasters and cable services in conflict about the renewal of the STELA Act

By Emmanuel Legrand

 

The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB)'s opposition to the re-authorisation of the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act (STELA), could create a blackout situation on January, 1, 2020 if the legislation is not authorised for another five years, according to participants at the Phoenix Center's 19th Annual US Telecoms Symposium. 

 
  STELA allows local cable and satellite services to pick up signals from terrestrial channels from outside of their original market and beam them back to consumers under a compulsory license that remunerates the owners of copyrights the programmes. The NAB would like to introduce a system by which cable services and channel operators negotiate directly with broadcasters the fees to redistribute the signals. 
 
  George Ford, Chief Economist for the Phoenix Center, said STELA is "one of the most adversarial policy issue" in the telecom sector at the moment. "If it does not get renewed, it will disappear. Some want it to expire and others not," he said. Ford estimated that the cost of re-transmitting distant signals costs the US cable industry $12 billion a year, but that cost would certainly go up if the act was not renewed.


Running out of time
 
  "If STELA does not get renewed, there will be blackouts, and prices will go up," said Ford. "We are running out of time," lamented Jonathan Schwantes, Senior Policy Counsel for Consumer Reports, who noted that both the Senate and the House have the act ready for the floor, but the broadcasters' opposition makes it difficult to find a consensus on the legislation.
 
  The House version of the bill is known as the Satellite Television Community Protection and Promotion Act of 2019 (the “STCPP Act”) and it has been marked up by the House Judiciary Committee.
 
  Jeff Blum, SVP and Deputy General Counsel for satellite service DISH, said it "would be a shame if it was not renewed. Some communities will stop to receive their broadcast if it is not renewed. We are hopeful that STELA will be extended."