Wicker to File 'Clean' STELA Reauth Bill Wednesday; Collins Prods FCC on Orphan Counties
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., told us Tuesday he plans to file his Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act reauthorization bill Wednesday and will “probably” include it for markup at a planned Nov. 13 committee executive session. Meanwhile,…
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House Judiciary Committee ranking member Doug Collins, R-Ga., is pressing the FCC on a trio of Georgia counties' satellite market modification petitions amid his interest in continuing to address orphan counties issues in the STELA debate (see 1903150045). Wicker later told reporters the coming bill will involve a “five-year, clean reauthorization." That would diverge from his earlier work on a renewal for a shorter period than the standard five-year time period as a compromise with STELA skeptics (see 1909250063). “My goal would be next year come back without the pressure of a deadline facing us and actually write a bill that can make everybody proud,” Wicker said. Senate Commerce staff informed stakeholders they anticipate any STELA bill probably won't be able to sail through a markup on a voice vote and is expected to require substantial debate time, lobbyists told us. The law is set to sunset Dec. 31. Collins wrote FCC Chairman Ajit Pai Tuesday to urge the commission to “quickly complete consideration” of the satellite market modification petitions sought by three northeast Georgia counties -- Franklin, Hart and Stephens -- to place them in the Atlanta media market. He noted there has been no appeal of the Media Bureau's June market modification order allowing satellite subscribers in Elbert County, Georgia, to get access to Atlanta TV stations WSB-TV, WAGA-TV, WXIA-TV and WGC-TV (see 1906070038). Broadcasters are appealing Media Bureau market modification orders for the other three counties (see 1810160042 and 1812280054). Subscribers in the affected counties are receiving broadcasts from TV stations in the Asheville, North Carolina, and Greenville, South Carolina, media markets, which means they're “deprived of the range of critical information that in-state broadcasters provide to their communities,” Collins said. “Since weather patterns in this region generally move from west to east, residents depend on public safety messages that come through in-state broadcasters.”