SHVIA MARKUP COULD INCLUDE DBS ANTITRUST AMENDMENT
This week’s markup of the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act (SHVIA) in the House Judiciary Committee could include an amendment to speed local-into-local distribution through an antitrust exemption. Sources said Reps. Boucher (D-Va.) and Goodlatte (R-Va.) could propose the exemption. Industry sources said while DBS providers haven’t lobbied for the amendment, they won’t oppose it.
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But the American Cable Assn. (ACA), a coalition of smaller cable providers, said it opposes the amendment. ACA said the amendment would allow EchoStar and DirecTV to share satellite and transponder facilities to speed DBS delivery of local broadcast signals into smaller markets. “Our members’ history with DBS shows that when given an inch, they will take a mile,” said ACA Pres. Matthew Polka. “Regardless of how an amendment is tailored to prevent unfair competition, our members know what to expect from DBS. That’s why the FCC and Department of Justice ruled that any combination of DirecTV and EchoStar would be against the public interest and would violate federal antitrust laws.” The FCC and DOJ blocked a planned merger between EchoStar and DirecTV 2 years ago.
DBS providers said they support the amendment. “We appreciate anything to even out competition,” an SBCA spokeswoman said. Industry sources said DBS didn’t lobby for the changes. They said it could be something DBS might use sometime, but currently most local-into-local deployment problems are more technical than regulatory.
Polka said the amendment would help DBS compete only against smaller cable distributors and do little to help DBS in larger urban areas. “The solution for this issue lies in competition,” Polka said. He said DirecTV has committed to serve all 210 broadcast markets by 2008 and the 2 DBS providers, with $17 billion in combined revenue, don’t need federal help to serve local markets.
The major issue for DBS providers continues to be proposed rate increases. DBS industry sources have said the House Judiciary Intellectual Property Subcommittee’s proposal to retroactively apply rate increases would produce excessive rates. One DBS source said the companies were taking the case to their customers in hopes of exerting pressure on lawmakers not to enact a rate increase during an election year. The Senate Judiciary Committee recently passed a version of SHVIA that also raised rates, but didn’t include the retroactive inflationary increase in rates for copyright holders. Both versions required the Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel (CARP) to review rates, which is also opposed by DBS.
The House Judiciary Committee markup of SHVIA (HR-4518) is scheduled for Wed., July 7, 10 a.m. in Rm. 2141 Rayburn Bldg.