Retransmission Reform Advocates Pin Hopes On Satellite Bill

Retransmission reform advocates think they've got an opening to convince Congress it's time to change the law that leads to blackouts like the one between CBS and Time Warner Cable that left more than 3 million Time Warner Cable subscribers outside the CBS dome. Their big hope? Getting retransmission consent reform language attached to the reauthorization of the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act (STELA).

A 25-year-old law, STELA allows satellite TV companies like Dish and DirecTV to retransmit in a local market a network TV signal from outside the subscribers' market if a local signal isn't available. Because it deals with carriage of local signals, retransmission reform advocates see the STELA debate as a perfect bill to attach retransmission reform. Without STELA, it could be a lot harder to build support in Congress. Retransmission reform advocates will get a good shot at making their case stronger during two House subcommittee hearings called to address the issues around STELA. But despite the opportunity to testify, it could be an uphill battle for retransmission reform advocates, banking on the few supporters like Sens John McCain (R-AZ) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), who have co-sponsored an á la carte bill which is going nowhere, and on the House side, Rep Steve Scalise (R-LA), who has yet to find a co-sponsor to re-introduce a bill that would eliminate all media ownership rules.