STELA Markup Subject to Last-Minute Debate, Negotiation
The House Communications Subcommittee unsuccessfully scrambled to pull together a compromise on the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act draft bill (http://1.usa.gov/1jhR7Kg) hours before it was scheduled to begin marking up the bill. Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., released the draft earlier this month, and despite initial broadcaster opposition, cobbled together endorsements from NCTA, NAB, Dish Network and DirecTV.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
Subcommittee members gave opening statements at a STELA markup session scheduled for 5:30 p.m. in 2123 Rayburn and will vote on the draft in the same room Tuesday at a session beginning at 10:30 a.m. Republican and Democratic staffers were in a STELA meeting on the draft Monday afternoon, with no compromise by the time the markup began, industry and Capitol Hill sources said. A Republican staffer said this was a standard staff briefing, customary before markups. STELA will expire at the end of the year unless Congress reauthorizes it, and Commerce and Judiciary committees in both chambers have jurisdiction.
Subcommittee Democrats had met Monday morning and reached little consensus on what they wanted out of the STELA draft, said a media industry lobbyist. One Democratic staffer pushed back against that characterization and said the Monday morning meeting was simply a STELA update for the different Democratic offices. Various Democrats had offered tentative opposition at a recent STELA hearing (CD March 13 p1), focusing on language in the draft that would limit FCC action on sharing agreements until the agency completes its media ownership quadrennial review as well as a provision that would kill the integration ban, which demands cable operators use CableCARDs instead of built-in security in set-top boxes. Those two issues still posed the primary hurdle among Democrats Monday, the media industry lobbyist said. Subcommittee ranking member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., is widely seen as the biggest opponent of the CableCARD language, but the language on sharing agreements stirred concern more broadly among Democrats. Some subcommittee Democrats showed interest in exchanging the STELA draft for one that simply changed the date on the current STELA law -- a clean reauthorization, quite different from what Walden introduced and is considering. His current draft contains other provisions, such as one killing the sweeps-week rule and another section allowing companies to opt out of joint negotiation with broadcasters in retransmission consent disputes.
The media lobbyist said the central question now is whether Walden and subcommittee Republicans will move forward regardless of Democratic support. If the Democrats do support the bill, she wondered, what are the necessary changes to allow for a smooth voice vote at markup? One Democratic staffer said Monday afternoon that no deal had emerged but that all sides appeared hopeful. Friday, a spokeswoman for House Commerce Committee ranking member Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said Democrats were “negotiating in good faith” and are “hoping to come to an agreement” in a “bipartisan solution” (CD March 24 p19). Subcommittee offices were not inclined to weigh in on the state of the draft Monday nor prepared to share opening statements for the markup early on.
The Democratic memo for the markup session scrutinized those areas of contention and ambiguity in the STELA draft. “Without clear definition of what the FCC is required to comply with under this provision, the draft bill could have the effect of blocking the FCC from making any changes to the attribution rules to address broadcaster sharing arrangements,” the memo said (http://1.usa.gov/1fVl0wv). Democrats also questioned other parts of the draft they see as unclear. “It is unclear, however, how changes to the FCC’s attribution rules could affect” the limits on joint negotiation, it said. “If the FCC adopts FCC Chairman [Tom] Wheeler’s proposal to extend the Joint Sales Agreement attribution rule for radio to television, the exemption for commonly-owned or controlled stations could potentially expand the number of broadcasters that are allowed to negotiate jointly for retransmission consent. It is also unclear whether any MVPD would elect to negotiate jointly with multiple broadcasters.”
The subcommittee markup comes ahead of a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on STELA Wednesday at 10 a.m. in 226 Dirksen. The Senate Commerce Committee is eyeing April 3 for its hearing, the media industry lobbyist said; committee spokespeople had no comment. Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., has indicated a preference for a clean STELA reauthorization given his focus on patents and other issues, the media industry lobbyist added. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., may try to attach his sports blackout legislation to the bill, the lobbyist said. There does not seem to be much enthusiasm for Walden’s STELA draft in Senate Judiciary, but Senate Commerce may be more interested in some of its direction, she added. (jhendel@warren-news.com)