President Bush signed into law the Satellite Home Viewer Extensio...
President Bush signed into law the Satellite Home Viewer Extension & Reauthorization Act (SHVERA) Dec. 8. The law gives the satellite industry 18 months to abolish a 2-dish system for receiving local channels. EchoStar said the requirement will force…
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the company to shift signals between satellites -- a process that will require customers in some markets to install an additional dish anyway. “It doesn’t matter if you have 5 satellite dishes on your house… as long as we're providing local channels on one dish,” an EchoStar spokesman said. The company has 38 markets that use the 2-dish method: Several markets have already moved to one-dish. EchoStar said it was too early to tell how the estimated $100 million expense will be covered and if any cost would trickle down to their customers. DirecTV said its system wasn’t affected by the legislation since it provides all channels including locals on one dish. The company is particularly pleased with a provision that allows satellite TV to transmit “significantly viewed” stations to customers who live outside the station’s main market. The new law also creates a “digital white area” that the industry said will motivate local broadcasters to build towers and broadcast at full power to serve their communities (CD Nov 24 p5).