Bush Signs Sat TV Bill into Law

[Gregg Lengling]

On Wednesday, President Bush signed into law a $388 billion appropriations package that covers spending for all federal departments outside the Pentagon and Department of Homeland Security. The omnibus package includes key satellite TV provisions that Congress, lobbyists and the industry have been working on throughout the year.

The new law, the Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reauthorization Act (SHVERA) of 2004, gives satellite TV 18 months to phase out a two-dish solution for reception of a certain set of locals, an item that targets EchoStar and its use of two dishes for receiving a select set of local TV channels for a number of markets.

In addition, the act includes a provision allowing satellite TV to deliver "significantly viewed" stations to consumers who live outside the station's home market. There's also royalty rate language that allows the parties involved to negotiate their business arrangements rather than going through a CARP process. And the new provisions extend for five years the compulsory license that allows DBS services to provide superstations and distant network signals.

SHVERA also allows for the creation of a "digital white area," which will allow satellite TV companies to deliver distant broadcast digital and high-def signals to consumers who cannot receive a local digital TV signal.