The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology held a hearing on Wednesday to continue its examination of innovation and regulation in the video marketplace.
Subcommittee Chair Greg Walden (R-Ore.) led the hearing, which was part of a series of hearings reviewing the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act. Measures of the law are set to sunset on December 31, 2014.
“This early stage of the process is a good time for us to take a larger look at the video marketplace; it takes time and process to develop good policy and even more to build consensus,” Walden said. “Yet, the deadline for reauthorizing STELA looms large, and we must continue to make progress.”
Walden announced during his opening statement that he plans to circulate a discussion draft on reform statues that govern the video marketplace no later than the first quarter of 2014.
Witnesses who testified included R. Stanton Dodge, the executive vice president and general counsel of DISH Network LLC and Edward Munson, Jr., the vice president and general manager of KPHO-TV, among others.
Dodge said the broken retransmission consent regime is in desperate need of comprehensive reform. Impasses in negotiations between the broadcasters and their distributers, according to Dodge, are causing blackouts that are lasting longer and impacting millions of more people.
“Without immediate action by Congress, it is likely that the blackout problem will continue to escalate, millions more screens will go dark every year and consumers will be forced to pay more and more for their cable and satellite service as a result,” Dodge said.
Munson testified for the need to update specific rules like the new online public file requirement and ownership limitations.
Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), the chairman of the full Committee on Energy and Commerce, said the satellite industry serves one-third of America’s pay-TV audience.
“Our responsibility as lawmakers, is to ensure that as technological advancements and breakthroughs transform the video marketplace, government is not standing in the way,” Upton said.