Brief Chronology on Satellite TV Issues from 1998 to 2002

1. MARCH 1998: The Hatch-Leahy bill (S. 1720, "The Copyright Compulsory License Improvement Act") an attempt to avoid needless cutoffs of satellite TV service while, at the same time, working to protect the local affiliates and foster local-into-local television was introduced March 5, 1998. (The broadcast of local TV stations via satellite is referred to as "local-into-local" service.) It was later reported out of the Judiciary Committee unanimously on October 1, 1998, and is designed to permit local TV signals (as opposed to distant out-of-state network signals) to be offered to viewers via satellite; increase competition between cable and satellite TV providers; and provide more PBS programming by also offering a national feed as well as local programming; and reduce rates charged to consumers.

2. JULY 1998: A federal district court judge in Florida (CBS v. PrimeTime 24, S.D. Florida) found that PrimeTime 24 was offering distant CBS and Fox television signals to over a million households in the U.S. in a manner inconsistent with its compulsory license that permits such satellite service only to households that do not get at least "grade B intensity" service (i.e., do not get a reasonably strong broadcast signal using a rooftop antenna).

Under a preliminary injunction, satellite service to thousands of households in Vermont and other states was to be terminated on October 8, 1998, for CBS and Fox distant network signals for households signed up after March 11, 1997, the date the action was filed.

3. SEPTEMBER 1998: To avoid immediate cutoffs of satellite TV service in Vermont and other states, Sens. Leahy, Hatch, Lott, Hollings and McCain requested that the parties ask the judge for an extension of the October 8, 1998, termination date. The extension was granted until February 28, 1999. This extension was also designed to give the FCC time to address this problem faced by satellite home dish owners.

4. DECEMBER 1998: The FCC solicited comments on whether the current definition of grade B intensity was adequate. Leahy filed a comment with the FCC on this rulemaking on December 1, 1998, and criticized the FCC rule in that it would cut off households from receiving distant signals based on "unwarranted assumptions" in a manner inconsistent with the law and the clear intent of the Congress. Leahy complained about entire towns in Vermont which were to be inappropriately cut off and insisted that FCC issue a final rule that permits "a smooth transition to ‘local-into-local’ satellite TV service."

5. JANUARY 1999: Sens. Hatch and Leahy introduced the "Satellite Home Viewers Improvements Act" (S. 247) to promote local-into-local satellite TV service.

In addition, a Florida district court filed a final order (and permanent injunction) which will also require that households signed up for satellite service BEFORE March 11, 1997, be subject to termination of CBS and Fox distant signals on April 30, 1999, if they live in areas where they are likely to receive a grade B intensity signal (as defined by the Court and FCC rules) and are unable to get the local CBS or Fox affiliate to consent to receipt of the distant signal. (Households signed up after March 11, 1999, were still subject to termination on February 28, 1999, as stated in the preliminary injunction.)

6. FEBRUARY 1999: The FCC issued final rules on the definition of a signal of grade B intensity which punted the ball right back to Congress. Leahy raised concerns that the FCC missed a great opportunity to develop a more precise way to determine which homes should be able to receive a good over-the-air signal.

7. NOVEMBER 1999: The Congress passes the "Satellite Home Viewers Improvements Act" (S. 247) fostering local-into-local television as part of the Intellectual Property and Communications Omnibus Reform Act of 1999, which includes many of the concepts from two Hatch-Leahy bills (S. 1720 and S. 247).

Also, Congress passes the "Rural Local Broad Signal Act" to mandate that the FCC take all actions necessary to maximize the use allocation of spectrum for unserved and under-served local television markets.

8. SEPTEMBER 2000: The Senate passed the USDA rural loan guarantee program, initially proposed by Leahy and others, as an amendment to the "Satellite Home Viewers Improvement Act," on September 27, 2000, which later became incorporated into the "Launching Our Communities’ Access to Local Television Act of 2000" (as part of P.L. 106-553, Dec. 21, 2000) which was designed to assist in the financing of local-into-local television service for rural America and, in addition, provided a priority for also offering high-speed Internet access via satellite.

9. OCTOBER 2000: The Conference Report including the rural loan guarantee program for local-into-local television service passes the Senate. The "Launching Our Communities’ Access to Local Television Act of 2000" is included in P.L. 106-553 in December and provides for a federal loan guarantee program, through the Rural Utilities Service of USDA, for local-into-local television service with a priority for programs also offering high-speed Internet access.

10. NOW (March 6, 2002): Farm Bill Conferees, including Leahy, are working to include mandatory funding for the rural loan guarantee program for local-into-local television service and high-speed Internet access (implementing the "Launching Our Communities’ Access to Local Television Act of 2000") for rural Americans, and other technical improvements, to be administered by the Rural Utilities Service of USDA.