Broadcasters Fight SHVERA Modifications

The debate about which broadcast signals satellite operators can carry into each designated market area continued this week on Capitol Hill. Broadcasters want to keep a lid on signal importation from outside markets to protect incumbent stations. Satellite operators can import distant signals to households that have no local, over-the-air reception, but they want more flexibility for several reasons, including leverage in retransmission negotiations with broadcasters. This distant signal issue has been at the heart of each renewal of the Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reauthorization Act (SHVERA) due again this year. "If a cable or satellite system serving one community is permitted to import the same programming from distant, out-of-market stations, the viewing audience of the local station will be fragmented--advertising rates will plummet--and the ability of local television stations to provide costly local news, weather, emergency information, and local public affairs programming will, plainly, be diminished," National Association of Broadcasters TV Board Chairman Paul Karpowicz told the Senate Commerce communications subcommittee during a hearing on Wednesday.