APTS Urges Congress to Mandate Satellite Carriage

APTS Urges Congress to Mandate Satellite Carriage

Renewed Effort Again Puts Pressure on EchoStar and DirecTV to Carry Public Programming

WASHINGTON, Feb. 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Representatives from Public Television stations across the country will urge Congress in the coming days to mandate satellite carriage of local Public Television stations' digital signals, saying it is in the public's best interest to do so.

Public Television executives will converge on Capitol Hill as part of the Capitol Hill Day meeting hosted by the Association of Public Television Stations (APTS). Public broadcasters are frustrated that the high-definition signals of commercial stations are carried by satellite distributors, while Public Television stations' new digital signals are kept off. They are asking policymakers to support legislation compelling satellite service providers -- EchoStar and DirecTV -- to carry local Public Television stations' HD and other digital programming during the digital TV transition, and after the transition is finished.

"DirecTV and EchoStar use scarce public airwaves to beam their signals to and from satellites," said APTS President and CEO John Lawson. "They use highly valuable international orbital slots for these satellites. It's outrageous that they won't carry the new digital channels from local public stations, but find a way to carry the big four commercial network stations. We're asking Congress to remedy this huge breach of the public interest."

Specifically, APTS seeks to amend Section 338 of the Communications Act to make clear that the digital signals of Public Television stations are subject to the carry-one carry-all provisions related to carriage of local broadcast signals via satellite. This action would clarify that the entire multicast digital programming transmitted by a Public Television station is subject to mandatory carriage.

DirecTV and EchoStar are now the second and fourth largest multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) in the nation respectively, possessing more than 26 million total subscribers and more than 27 percent of the total MVPD market. Local carriage has been driving the increase in DBS subscription rates, while subscriber churn is attributable primarily to competition from digital cable and the introduction of television service from companies like Verizon and other local exchange carriers.

However, DirecTV and EchoStar carry on their systems in selected markets only the local digital signals of commercial stations affiliated with NBC, CBS, FOX and ABC, without carrying the local digital signals of Public Television stations. The only exceptions are the few Public Television stations broadcasting only in digital.

In light of satellite's market position, it is critical that Public Television stations achieve carriage of their DTV signals on satellite. While analog carriage is assured through the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act's "carry-one carry-all" mandate, amendments to the Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reauthorization Act only provided local digital carriage rights in Alaska and Hawaii. Federal law, as it now stands, is ambiguous regarding local digital carriage in the "lower 48."

Since May of 2004, APTS has repeatedly filed pleadings with the FCC to make the case that the neutral language in the FCC laws and copyright laws allows for mandatory digital carriage under the "carry-one carry-all" scheme. Meanwhile, Congress has not enacted any changes to Federal law to mandate digital carriage on satellite for the nation.

There have been no significant developments regarding satellite carriage agreements. EchoStar, which flatly told public broadcasters it will not carry any multicast signals in the foreseeable future, nor will it commit to carriage of any local Public Television station's HD signals, only recently approached APTS to discuss carriage options. Meanwhile, DirecTV has been rolling out local HD carriage of only the top four commercial networks in major markets.

DirecTV and APTS have begun discussions on a possible digital carriage agreement, taking into consideration DirecTV's assertions of technical and capacity restraints. DirecTV may be willing to consider a phased-in approach to carriage, but talks are still at an early stage.

Digital Carriage Success Stories

APTS has been successful in negotiating voluntary carriage agreements with cable providers. In January 2005, APTS entered into a comprehensive digital carriage agreement with the National Cable and Telecommunications Association for carriage of all Public Television stations' digital signals on major multiple system operators. Under the agreement, prior to the DTV transition date, a cable system that has been upgraded to 750 MHz or greater that carries HD programming will carry at least one Public Television station in full (HD and multicast). Thereafter, all Public Television stations will be carried in full, subject to duplication limits. In addition, any station that returns its analog allotment early will also get full carriage of its digital signal prior to the DTV transition date.

For the past two years, APTS has pursued active negotiations with the American Cable Association (ACA) for Public Television station carriage on small cable systems. An agreement with the ACA is expected to be finalized soon.

In early 2006, APTS and PBS reached a national carriage agreement with Verizon for carriage of local Public Television stations' digital and analog signals on its fiber-based telecommunications platform. The terms guarantee carriage of all local Public Television stations during and after the transition. However, after a year of protracted negotiation with SBC, and then AT&T for similar carriage, it became clear early in 2006 that little progress could be made. APTS is hopeful that the recent AT&T acquisition of Bell South may spur new negotiations.

APTS was established to support the continued growth and development of a strong and financially sound noncommercial television service for the American public. As broadcasters make the transition to digital, APTS is working to ensure the federal government continues its commitment to universal public television services.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact: tpanczyk@apts.org

Source: Association of Public Television Stations

CONTACT: Tania Panczyk-Collins of the Association of Public Television
Stations, +1-202-654-4222, tpanczyk@apts.org

Web site: http://www.apts.org/

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