# House subcommittee to mark up SHVERA on June 25



## FTA Michael (Jul 21, 2002)

From an excellent article at Multichannel News: http://www.multichannel.com/article/295503-SHVERA_Reauthorization_Bill_Set_For_Markup.php

As the thread title says, it's supposed to happen on Thursday, June 25.

"A draft circulated early last week did not deal with anything but a straight reauthorization plus some updates given the digital switch. ... But sources said the draft is only a placeholder, and that the heavy lifting will come in a managers' amendment from House Commmunications Subcommittee chairman Rick Boucher (D-Va.), which will be the true measure of what issues will be in the bill."

Other stuff that might be in the markup:

* How to handle short (< 4 network affiliates) and split markets

* How to pay for getting local channels to all 210 markets

For full details, go read the article!


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## Msguy (May 23, 2003)

My Bottom Line Question is this. Will Satellite Customers who subscribe to DirecTv be able to get other cities local channels? Is it proposed in the bill or are we going to continue only getting the market nielson says we are supposed to have? Will we EVER truely get to view adjacent markets on Satellite in addition to our current local channels that we receive. Will we be able to subscribe to national distant channels ever again? And what about a choice of what cities locals we would like to view? I would love for them to come up with a way for satellite customers to subscribe to other cities in there time zone. Like if you lived on the East Coast but not in New York City, you could subscribe to New York Locals, If You Lived in the Central Time Zone maybe they could offer those folks Chicago Locals and out West they could maybe offer L.A. or San Francisco. Am I dreaming or will it ever happen?


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## jacksonm30354 (Mar 29, 2007)

Msguy said:


> My Bottom Line Question is this. Will Satellite Customers who subscribe to DirecTv be able to get other cities local channels? Is it proposed in the bill or are we going to continue only getting the market nielson says we are supposed to have? Will we EVER truely get to view adjacent markets on Satellite in addition to our current local channels that we receive. Will we be able to subscribe to national distant channels ever again? And what about a choice of what cities locals we would like to view? I would love for them to come up with a way for satellite customers to subscribe to other cities in there time zone. Like if you lived on the East Coast but not in New York City, you could subscribe to New York Locals, If You Lived in the Central Time Zone maybe they could offer those folks Chicago Locals and out West they could maybe offer L.A. or San Francisco. Am I dreaming or will it ever happen?


Don't think they can offer to the whole time zone as the spot would not be big enough. You might be able to get neighboring markets depending on where you are in the spot beam.

That said, smaller DMAs would be very cool to allowing access to neighboring markets. For example, Atlanta is the 8th or 9th largest market. It is surrounded by several markets that are much smaller - Augusta, GA, Macon, GA, Columbus, GA that are in the 100+ range. Stations in those markets tend to have much lower quality as they have much less revenue. If people had a choice to get the Atlanta stations, many would jump at the chance.

I think they should look at how to reduce the number of markets. Some just don't make sense - Dothan and Panama City, FL are separate markets, however, the CBS affiliate for Dothan covers both markets. (It actually covers it - it's not brought in just because there isn't one in th mrket)If they moved the Panama City ABC and NBC to the same tower, voila, 1 larger market instead of 2.


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## Msguy (May 23, 2003)

So If all this happens when would we be able to start signing up for adjacent markets?


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## Geronimo (Mar 23, 2002)

Superstations?


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## FTA Michael (Jul 21, 2002)

Broadcasting & Cable says that the SHVERA reauthorization passed the subcommittee unanimously, partly because it was as plain vanilla as the purported "placeholder".

"Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA), chairman of the House Communications Committee, said Thursday that broadcasters, satellite operators and other stakeholders are close to a deal, perhaps within days, to provide local-into-local service in all 210 markets."

The B&C author said it looked like adjacent signals to split markets would not be in the bill, but that Boucher said that it would address adjacent signals to short markets.

Much, much more here: http://www.broadcastingcable.com/ar...lined.php?rssid=20068&q=satellite+home+viewer

PS to Geronimo: Hi, how ya doin? The first article said something about the vanilla placeholder simply updating the old language for the digital age. I take that as a hopeful sign for superstations, but as we all know, yaneverknow.


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## ARKDTVfan (May 19, 2003)

Good job looks like the govt will allow the NAB to hold viewers hostage once again:nono2::nono:


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## Geronimo (Mar 23, 2002)

Here is the bill as it stands. As the thread says this is far from final.

http://energycommerce.house.gov/Press_111/20090623/hr2994.pdf


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## joshjr (Aug 2, 2008)

I still have high hopes that they will get something done to be more benefitial to us that are not getting locals from D*


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## Geronimo (Mar 23, 2002)

FTA Michael said:


> PS to Geronimo: Hi, how ya doin? The first article said something about the vanilla placeholder simply updating the old language for the digital age. I take that as a hopeful sign for superstations, but as we all know, yaneverknow.


i don't see any mention of the supers in the bill as it stands today. i am not sure but that may mean the authority will simply expire at the end of the year.


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

If you want to make a difference, you have to write your Congressman and your Senators. It's really important if your Congressman is on the Subcommittee in the House (membership list) or the Committee (membership list). It wouldn't hurt to start a similar dialogue with your Senator if he/she is on the Subcommittee (membership list) or Committee (membership list).

One has to keep in mind that to change the rules to allow everyone access to distants would be to go against the local TV stations. Members of Congress depend on those local TV stations for whatever coverage they can get at election time. But they also depend on voters and individual voters can sometimes get their attention.


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

From MediaDailyNews:


> Retransmission...revenues can't climb fast enough for TV stations...revenue source will be over the $1 billion mark. A recent projection from SNL Kagan said that retransmission consent fees will rise to $1.2 billion by 2011.
> 
> ...CBS alone has said retrans fees alone will translate into $200 million to the company's bottom line.


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## ARKDTVfan (May 19, 2003)

The Ross bill is back up with a few changes
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/ar...ision_Freedom_Act_Bill.php?rssid=20068&q=bill


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## joshjr (Aug 2, 2008)

ARKDTVfan said:


> The Ross bill is back up with a few changes
> http://www.broadcastingcable.com/ar...ision_Freedom_Act_Bill.php?rssid=20068&q=bill


I am all for it. It would help me as it perfectly describes my issues. I live in Oklahoma and get via OTA only, my locals from Kansas and Missouri. This should mean that D* would offer me Tulsa locals. I could handle that as thats what I want anyways.


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## hancox (Jun 23, 2004)

Same here. Fairfield County, CT should get CT locals!


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## FTA Michael (Jul 21, 2002)

The latest from Multichannel News: http://www.multichannel.com/article/315475-House_Judiciary_Committee_Circulating_Draft_of_SHVERA.php

"The House Judiciary Committee has circulated a draft of the Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reauthorization Act that has a little something for everyone, including allowing Dish Network back into the distant network signal business."

Too much scattered stuff to summarize, so go read the article.

Bad news: The new title of the bill is the Satellite Home Viewer Digital Television Act of 2009 (SHVDTA). How do you pronounce that?


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## cj9788 (May 14, 2003)

"shivdata"?


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## joshjr (Aug 2, 2008)

I didnt see no mention of ohphin counties in that article. I sure hope they address it or insist that all DMA's are carried by D*.


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## Shad (May 29, 2007)

http://www.washingtonwatch.com/bills/show/111_HR_3216.html


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## weirdude2304 (Oct 9, 2004)

"The bill would allow Dish network back into the distant signal business once it has delivered local TV station signals into all 210 local markets. It is under an injunction not to do so and currently in an arms-length agreement with National Programming Service, which delivers those distant signals to Dish subs."

So when will this occur?


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

weirdude2304 said:


> "The bill would allow Dish network back into the distant signal business once it has delivered local TV station signals into all 210 local markets. It is under an injunction not to do so and currently in an arms-length agreement with National Programming Service, which delivers those distant signals to Dish subs."


I think the bigger question here is that if DISH covers all 210 markets, are the scraps that are left worth the expense of a CONUS channel?


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## joshjr (Aug 2, 2008)

I dont really want my DMA's locals. I want in state programming from Tulsa instead of locals from Kansas and Missouri instead of Oklahoma. My carrier is D* though. I like the DNS feeds but it would be nice to spend $3 a month on locals instead of like $13.


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## Shad (May 29, 2007)

This bill has at least 2 lobbies supporting it. You should contact your congressional representative and ask them to support H.R. 3216.

http://www.televisionbroadcast.com/article/84014


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## joshjr (Aug 2, 2008)

Shad said:


> This bill has at least 2 lobbies supporting it. You should contact your congressional representative and ask them to support H.R. 3216.
> 
> http://www.televisionbroadcast.com/article/84014


I have called mine several times about this crap. I sure hope they get it passed. For alot of people its their best shot at getting locals. I want my instate locals instead of my DMA's anyways as do most that live in my town. If D* would start offering Tulsa locals here they would get alot of subs and I could get alot of referral bonus money lol.


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## bootman (Jul 23, 2009)

For those that want to track this bill's progress.

govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-3216


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## Shad (May 29, 2007)

The vote at http://www.washingtonwatch.com/bills...1_HR_3216.html is running 90% for this bill. There is also a place for comments in support or against, for those of you so inclined.


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## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

If they want to give me my own area for free, fine. If I have to pay a fee, I should be able to pick any city in the country.


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## joshjr (Aug 2, 2008)

bootman said:


> For those that want to track this bill's progress.
> 
> govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-3216


Thanks!!! I am tracking it and I will be emailing and calling the Ok rep as there is only one rep from Oklahoma on either committee.


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## Jon Ellis (Dec 28, 2003)

Does it appear to anyone else that H.R. 3216 would also allow independent stations to be added in many adjacent markets? The bill does say that a market has to be split between states to qualify as an "adjacent market," so that eliminates some markets from consideration. But it doesn't require that the imported station be a network affiliate. It doesn't say anything about the benefitting counties needing to have a lack of stations, just a lack of affiliates of the same network.

Some examples:
-Milwaukee's ION affiliate and independent stations WBME and WMLW-CA could be imported into the Wisconsin counties of the Green Bay market. Green Bay is a split market because it has one county in Michigan.
-Minneapolis' ION affiliate and independent station KSTC could be imported into the Minnesota counties of the Duluth, Fargo, Sioux Falls, and La Crosse markets. All are split markets bordering on Minneapolis. However, it could not be imported into the bordering Mankato market because it is located entirely within Minnesota.
-Fargo MyNeworkTV affiliate KCPM could be imported into the North Dakota counties of the Bismarck market because the Bismarck market spills over into South Dakota and Montana.

I could go on all night with numerous other examples, but I really should get to bed.


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## Msguy (May 23, 2003)

Call me crazy if you want. But this is what I wish they would allow. I wish they would launch a special satellite for carrying All of the Local Channels from every city. For everyone who wanted to subscribe to every local channel available where they could choose every day any city to watch and all of them be available to everyone nationwide for $50 a month i would be for that. I wish they'd allow us a choice like that. But i don't think we'll ever get to see something like that.


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## joshjr (Aug 2, 2008)

Msguy said:


> Call me crazy if you want. But this is what I wish they would allow. I wish they would launch a special satellite for carrying All of the Local Channels from every city. For everyone who wanted to subscribe to every local channel available where they could choose every day any city to watch and all of them be available to everyone nationwide for $50 a month i would be for that. I wish they'd allow us a choice like that. But i don't think we'll ever get to see something like that.


I was more along the lines thinking if they carried all DMA's as long as you paid for your own DMA they could allow us one other DMA for an additional charge. Then our local DMA would be getting their money and we would be able to carry one other DMA of our choice.


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## Msguy (May 23, 2003)

I would be for them allowing us to subscribe to one of the major cities in our own Time Zone. Eastern Time Zone- New York, Central Time Zone- Chicago, Mountain Time Zone- Denver, Western Time Zone- Los Angeles. If they would allow us to subscribe to our own Locals and then subscribe to one additional City would be nice also. Why would that be to difficult IF people were willing to subscribe for them? They could give the subscription money to the local markets then as compensation for us receiving an additional out of market DMA. Why can't they see that and just do something in favor of the customer for a change?


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## joshjr (Aug 2, 2008)

We will have to wait and see what Congress decides this time. I for one can't wait. I know they seem to want to resolve the locals issue one way or another which can only be good news for me.


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## Msguy (May 23, 2003)

I Want them to make it where we can subscribe (If We Want To) to any City's Local Channels that we want to. If We want to subscribe to out of town locals we should be able to if we're willing to pay for them. If I had to pay $10 a month extra to receive all of the Chicago Local Channels i would GLADLY pay that.


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## Msguy (May 23, 2003)

When will they decide anything on this issue?


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## Shades228 (Mar 18, 2008)

I'd say it would be resolved by late october early november however they have until the end of the year before it becomes a major issue. I'm sure Dish and DirecTV want it done sooner then later.


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## joshjr (Aug 2, 2008)

Msguy said:


> I Want them to make it where we can subscribe (If We Want To) to any City's Local Channels that we want to. If We want to subscribe to out of town locals we should be able to if we're willing to pay for them. If I had to pay $10 a month extra to receive all of the Chicago Local Channels i would GLADLY pay that.


I listened to the Congressional hearing again last night and thats a goal but dont know if it will happen this time out. I would say I highly doubt it. They are way more concerned with getting everyone local programming before offering multiple DMA's.

I keep checking the schedule hoping they decide to do something about it sooner rather then later. It would be nice to have it settelled by NFL season time. I dont get locals from D* but I am in an orphin county that gets my locals from 2 other states besides the one I reside in. Come on Congress!!


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## Msguy (May 23, 2003)

I am the exact same as you. Although I do receive Locals from DirecTv. I get my locals from outside of my home state. I receive my locals from Memphis, Tennessee even though I actually reside in Northern Mississippi. I am not complaining about my Memphis Locals because I do prefer them to the Tupelo and Columbus Mississippi Locals. Those two towns are so small that the Stations are actually spread out between two towns. The NBC Affiliate being in Tupelo, Mississippi The ABC Affilliate being in a very small town called West Point, Mississippi and the CBS Station being from Columbus, Mississippi. Talk about being scattered but that is the way the Tupelo, Columbus Locals are. I wish they would just allow us to subscribe to the Biggest major market in our own Time Zone in addition to our Local Channels. They could put each of the 4 biggest Markets on the National Satellite and Allow us to subscribe to them if we wanted to. New York Locals for the East Coast folks, Chicago Locals for the Central Time Zone Folks, Dallas for the Southwest and Mountain Areas, and Los Angeles or San Francisco Locals for folks out west. Would that not be one option to help people truely get Distant Channels who are sometimes stuck watching local programming when national programming gets pre-empted? I hope they get this issue permanently resolved. I have a friend who lives in Canada and on his cable system up there he receives Seattle Locals and Minneapolis locals on his cable system and here we are people right here in the United States who STILL Truely Cannot receive ANY local channels yet from there Satellite Company. What Is Wrong with that picture?


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## texasbrit (Aug 9, 2006)

Msguy said:


> Call me crazy if you want. But this is what I wish they would allow. I wish they would launch a special satellite for carrying All of the Local Channels from every city. For everyone who wanted to subscribe to every local channel available where they could choose every day any city to watch and all of them be available to everyone nationwide for $50 a month i would be for that. I wish they'd allow us a choice like that. But i don't think we'll ever get to see something like that.


It's completely impractical to do that, they would need several satellites to deliver all the locals. HD locals are only possible now because the use of spotbeams allows the re-use of individual frequencies for different cities across the country. If you had potentially to deliver every cities locals to everyone you couldn't use spotbeams.


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## kenglish (Oct 2, 2004)

Problem is, if locals are available to everybody, no matter what their DMA, it dilutes the advertising-supported concept to the point that stations could not survive.

We'd have to make local stations an all-pay service. You are worth several hundred bucks a month to your local stations' economy. And, letting even some people "opt-out" would make too huge a dent in the value of local ads.


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## joshjr (Aug 2, 2008)

kenglish said:


> Problem is, if locals are available to everybody, no matter what their DMA, it dilutes the advertising-supported concept to the point that stations could not survive.
> 
> We'd have to make local stations an all-pay service. You are worth several hundred bucks a month to your local stations' economy. And, letting even some people "opt-out" would make too huge a dent in the value of local ads.


My solution is to provide all local markets and then let us add another DMA at a fair price or DNS feeds at a fair price. As long as we have our DMA why not let us have what else we want if we are paying for it?


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## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

kenglish said:


> You are worth several hundred bucks a month to your local stations' economy.


No I'm not. I watch the first 5 or 10 minutes of the news once or twice a day and the weather. My local NBC station is so poor at news and weather, 
I watch the CBS station 60 miles away. I rarely, if ever watch anything else on broadcast TV . I don't even know what's on network TV anymore.

Now, if I could get locals out of Detroit for example, I might watch more network TV .


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## tagryn (Jun 10, 2009)

I'd love for them to authorize descrambling of the locals that the satellite feeds already carry - on DirecTV mainly from Los Angeles and NYC - but that's not in the cards this time around. Its a thorny issue because of the advertising $$$ involved for the locals who don't want to be in competition with out-of-area channels carrying the same network feeds. A compromise might be to allow just local news and sports to be shown, and blacking out the network shows which are shown on regional locals. Maybe in 2013 they get around to dealing with this...but more likely never.


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## FTA Michael (Jul 21, 2002)

Just got back from Canada last week. They're facing a similar problem as they move toward a 2011 digital transition. Some of the big broadcast networks there say it doesn't make sense to upgrade the transmitters for small markets because few Canadians still use OTA antennae.

And that has led to a race to find the best way to deliver those networks via satellite at some really cheap price. See http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repo...s-in-cheap-satellite-tv-space/article1256705/

Of course, there are some apples and oranges here. One big network is publicly subsidized. All multi-channel systems are free to import any broadcast signal they can get, and they pay a small amount into a copyright pool for the privilege. There are restrictions on foreign content. Some differences might be good, some bad, but they're all ... different! 

Anyway, I thought you'd like this upside-down perspective from Canada, where anyone can watch any distant network channel, and the networks are thinking about killing off their smallest affiliates.


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