Hill Leaders Close to STELA Deal; House Votes Tuesday on TV Viewer Protection Act

Congressional leaders appeared very close to an agreement Monday afternoon on Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act reauthorization legislation, Capitol Hill aides and lobbyists told us. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., also confirmed to reporters Monday they were nearing a deal. The House is set to vote Tuesday on the House Commerce Committee-cleared Television Viewer Protection Act (HR-5035). That bill would make permanent STELA's good-faith retransmission consent negotiations requirement and continue to allow importing distant signals under the compulsory license (see 1911200048). The potential compromise between HR-5035 and other STELA bills draws language from the Satellite Television Community Protection and Promotion Act (HR-5140), which would make permanent STELA's distant-signal compulsory license language but limit its scope to cover only trucks, RVs and households in short markets. Graham and others said Hill leaders are seeking to jettison language added during House Judiciary Committee markup of HR-5140 by Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., that expands beyond the originally proposed 120 days the limited extension of the distant-signal license for categories of subscribers that would be removed from the license (see 1911210052). Lofgren wanted the initial window to be six months. A satellite company could then apply for a theoretically unlimited number of 90-day extensions as long as it files a notice with the Copyright Office proving it acted “reasonably and in good faith” to provide coverage to all markets.