Wicker Sees Senate Commerce STELA Deal Possible; Others Eye Alternatives

Wicker told reporters Thursday he's playing “close to the vest” his plans for his Satellite Television Access Reauthorization Act (S-2789), but “we intend to address” the underlying issue of STELA renewal. The measure, which would renew STELA through 2024, is absent from the roster for Senate Commerce's planned Wednesday executive session. He postponed a November markup of S-2789 amid a committee members' revolt (see 1911130055). Senate Commerce expects to mark up five other tech and telecom bills (see 1912050043), including the Wicker-led 5G Spectrum Act (S-2881).

“We intend to stay as flexible under the rules” for Senate Commerce markup sessions “as we can,” which could leave the door open to a potential STELA deal before Wednesday, Wicker said. “And we don’t want to foreclose any options, but we intend to address the issue in a bipartisan way.”

Wicker will “take a look” at House-side STELA measures as a potential alternative if that chamber passes such legislation. “We're not intransigent about doing it one way, so we're willing to negotiate,” he said. The House Commerce Committee just before Thanksgiving recess cleared (see 1911200048) its Television Viewer Protection Act (HR-5035), while the House Judiciary Committee advanced its Satellite Television Community Protection and Promotion Act (HR-5140).

“We're still talking to” Wicker about STELA, but it might be preferable for the Senate to simply take up a future House-passed combination of HR-5035 and HR-5140, said Senate Commerce ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., in an interview. “Let's see how it all works out in the House.”

Little Time

Many on and off Capitol Hill told us little time is left for any action before STELA will expire.

“We're running out of time” to extend STELA's life, said Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D. “There hasn't been [an] agreement reached yet,” but it's “still being negotiated.” Thune said he hopes lawmakers can reach a deal because if the current law lapses, there are “some disruptions out there that we'd have to deal with.” It's “a problem” and “we don't have a solution,” though there are “different options," Thune said. He noted it's possible Congress could move to renew STELA by attaching it to a continuing resolution to fund the federal government past Dec. 21 (see 1911210032).

“We're at an impasse,” said Senate Communications ranking member Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii. “Whatever happens, it won't happen through regular order” like a regular Senate Commerce markup. Schatz told us he still favors extension for less than a year to give Senate Commerce more time to use the reauthorization process as a vehicle for a broader media policy revamp. A short-term reprieve could potentially “ride on” a CR or other appropriations measure, he said.

Lobbyists said any short-term STELA renewal attached to a CR would likely be timed to end at the same time the funding extension ends, with many pointing to a date some time in February. “We're now beyond markups,” one communications sector lobbyist said. “This is now in the hands” of Hill leaders like Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., so “a punt on STELA fits neatly into a punt on a CR.”

Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., told us he's still “for making [STELA] permanent,” which appears to be “something the House is willing to do.” Senate Commerce's path forward on the law is ultimately “up to” Wicker, but a “permanent extension is the right thing to do and I hope that's what we figure out how to do,” Blunt said. HR-5035 would make permanent STELA's good-faith retransmission consent negotiations requirement and continue to allow import of distant signals under the compulsory license. HR-5140 would make permanent STELA's distant-signal compulsory license language but limit its scope to cover only trucks, RVs and households in short markets.

“We're going to bring” a combined HR-5035/HR-5140 “to the floor” this year, but there isn't a clear timeline yet, said House Communications Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa. “I think it'll come up as a stand-alone” measure rather than as part of a CR or other must-pass bill. “We have a bipartisan agreement” on HR-5035 that could “allow us to pass it under” suspension of the rules, “which could get it passed quicker and send it over to the Senate,” he told us. “That may spur some action over there.”

A HR-5035/HR-5140 package "needs to move forward fairly quickly," said House Commerce ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore. “It could get packaged” into a CR or other must-pass bill given the narrow legislative window this month.

Stakeholder Concerns

Doyle acknowledged continued pushback from some stakeholders to the HR-5140 language. “We want to make sure that we move” on renewal in the House given the bipartisan agreement on at least the HR-5035 language.

The Council Against Government Waste and Public Knowledge are jointly urging House leaders not to move forward on the HR-5140 language. The groups oppose a provision that would provide a limited extension of the distant-signal license for all other currently covered subscribers not covered under the narrowed permanent version. That language would require satellite providers using the temporary distant-signal license to serve all 210 markets (see 1911180014), which is seen as targeting AT&T's DirecTV. Lawmakers repeatedly raised concerns amid the STELA debate about the 12 markets where DirecTV provides limited or no access to locally broadcast networks' stations. AT&T says the markets have access to local stations' terrestrial signals.

HR-5140 “would allow the distant signal license to expire after just six short months in certain markets for certain customers, based solely on the company providing them services,” said CAGR President Tom Schatz and PK Senior Policy Counsel Jenna Leventoff in the letter. They wrote House leaders, including Pelosi and the heads of the Commerce and Judiciary committees. “Given the current offerings of the two satellite providers, consumers in these markets will either have to go without certain broadcast network television, or seek [programming] from [Dish Network], the only provider this legislation would currently permit to serve satellite customers using distant signals," Leventoff and Schatz said.

It's “too early to tell” whether PK will back a combined HR-5035/HR-5140, said Legal Director John Bergmayer in an interview. “We have very little sense of what's going to happen or how [the bills] are going to be combined,” Leventoff said. HR-5035 is “really strong” since it includes amended language from the Truth-in-Billing, Remedies and User Empowerment over Fees (True Fees) Act (HR-1220) and would let small MVPDs collectively negotiate for retrans using a qualified buying group. “We're viewing a short-term reauthorization” of the law, as S-1289 would do, “as a stop-gap measure to protect consumers while we engage in broader reforms of the video marketplace,” she said.

Internet Innovation Alliance honorary Chairman Rick Boucher told us he favors a five-year STELA recertification over making the rules permanent. “That's happened consistently” in the past and “I'm confident Congress will do that again” this year, said Boucher, a former Democratic House Communications chairman. “We simply can't turn off” distant-signal service to dependent consumers and “we shouldn't disenfranchise” satellite subscribers who would be affected by the narrowed parameters delineated in HR-5140.