NAB, ALTV FILE EMERGENCY PETITION ON SATELLITE ‘CHERRY PICKING’
Broadcasters filed “emergency” petition Fri. asking FCC to clarify its satellite rules to prevent what they charged would be “rank discrimination” by EchoStar. That would be result of EchoStar’s announced plan (CD Jan 2 p2) to require 2nd home dish for subscribers to receive “disfavored” local TV stations, NAB and ALTV said. In Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act (SHVIA), Congress included specific language “barring discriminatory treatment” in satellite delivery of any local station, associations said, but language of FCC rule isn’t clear and it should be “immediately clarified.”
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Fourth U.S. Appeals Court, Richmond, last month upheld SHVIA carry one-carry all local TV station mandate for satellite systems (CD Dec 10 p2). But now, broadcasters contend, EchoStar would meet that requirement only if subscriber obtained 2nd dish to receive stations not on EchoStar’s main satellite. That would mean that only “small percentage of EchoStar subscribers” would be able to receive “disfavored stations… making a mockery of the carry one- carry all provisions of the SHVIA,” associations told FCC, so Commission should “quickly revise” its rule to make it clear that satellite carriers may not require their subscribers to acquire additional equipment to receive all local stations.
Petition said EchoStar “seeks to justify this blatant form of discrimination” by claiming it will offer to pay subscribers’ out-of-pocket cost for 2nd dish. But, broadcasters said, “the hassles, inconvenience and aesthetic costs” to subscribers act as “strong deterrent” to acquiring 2nd dish -- even if EchoStar’s offer is “genuine.” That was questioned by broadcasters’ petition, which pointed out that on Jan. 3 EchoStar’s Web site (www.dishnetwork.com) made no mention of offer. NAB and ALTV also questioned sincerity of EchoStar’s claim that it planned to launch its own spot-beam satellite later this year to offer one-dish access to all local stations in 35 markets.
In Dec. 27 letter to NAB Pres. Edward Fritts and leaders of House and Senate Commerce Committees, EchoStar CEO Charles Ergen maintained that 2nd dish plan “complies with the law. By providing any necessary additional equipment free of charge, we meet the statutory and regulatory prohibitions against price discrimination.” He said EchoStar received major setback when its “spot-beam” satellite providers -- Lockheed Martin and Loral -- “failed to meet their contractual obligations to deliver our satellites on time.” Thus, he said, 2nd dish requirement is intended as “interim solution that will allow us to carry all qualified stations.”