US Senate Panel Approves Satellite License Extension
September 24 2009 - 3:47PM
Dow Jones News
The Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill Thursday renewing
a complex licensing system giving cable and satellite operators the
right to broadcast copyrighted television programs.
Similar legislation is pending in the House. The satellite
license renewal system expires this year and is considered
"must-pass" in Congress.
The U.S. Copyright Office has recommended the elimination of the
licenses, but cable and satellite operators say one-on-one
negotiations with TV programmers, without further changes in
communications law, would put their companies at a
disadvantage.
The bill would allow DISH Network Corp. (DISH) and DIRECTV Group
Inc. (DTV), the country's two largest satellite carriers, to beam
network channels from nearby markets into markets that lack a local
affiliate for one of the four major networks - Walt Disney Co.'s
(DIS) ABC; CBS Corp.'s (CBS) CBS network; NBC, a unit of General
Electric Co. (GE) and Fox. Fox's parent, News Corp. (NWSA), owns
Dow Jones & Co., the publisher of this newswire.
According to the committee, a satellite provider is more likely
to provide local signals in a market when the provider can offer
all four major broadcast networks.
-By Fawn Johnson, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9263;
fawn.johnson@dowjones.com