Congress Extends Satellite License

By MCN Staff -- Multichannel News, 3/8/2010 9:37:00 AM

Washington — Satellite operators are good to go, at least until March 28.

The U.S. House of Representatives and Senate on Friday (March 5) approved an extension (H.R. 4691) for the satellite license (as part of a package of extensions that included health and unemployment insurance benefits) as a stand-off ended with a recalcitrant Senator.

The license lets satellite operators import distant TV station signals to subscribers in markets where they cannot get a viewable signal of their own. The license expired Feb. 28, but Congress urged satellite operators and the program suppliers who receive payment to preserve the status quo, and Congress would fix it later.

“Later” is the full license reauthorization bill that is currently part of a jobs bill on the Senate floor (HR 4213).

House Communications Subcommittee chairman Rick Boucher (D-Va.) claims bipartisan support for that bill, so that when the Senate passes it, he expects, the House can swiftly follow suit. That would be a five-year reauthorization, he said.

There had been some suggestion the satellite license bill, which involved royalty collection and payment, might have to shift to a 10-year renewal for pay-as-you-go reasons.