STELA Orders Update Significantly Viewed Station Rules
The FCC changed the rules for carriage of significantly viewed (SV) stations by satellite TV providers as part of its implementation of the Satellite TV Extension and Localism Act Tuesday. As expected (CD Nov 23 p9), the agency issued three unanimously approved orders and a further rulemaking. Under STELA, the FCC was responsible for updating rules for SV stations and predictive models for determining broadcast signal strength. The orders were largely in line with proposed rulemakings from earlier this year. They revise rules from the Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reauthorization Act (SHVERA) that STELA replaced.
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The SV order makes changes to eligibility rules on who’s allowed to receive SV stations and when the DBS providers are allowed to offer them. Under the new rules, satellite subscribers must only subscribe to local-into-local satellite service to receive SV stations and no longer are required to “receive the specific local network station as a precondition,” to get the SV station affiliated with the same network, the order said. The update was meant to “give satellite subscribers greater choice of programming” and “access to the same locally oriented programming as their cable-subscribing neighbors,” the FCC said. The order also removes the requirement that a DBS carrier offer “equivalent bandwidth” to the local and SV network pair. Under the new rule, the satellite TV provider must “carry the local station affiliated with the same network in HD whenever such format is available from the local station” to be able to carry the SV station in HD.
The FCC adopted a digital Individual Location Longley-Rice predictive model for broadcast signal strength as an adjustment to the DTV transition. The FCC will continue to use the outdoor antenna standard for determining broadcast signal strength in the new digital ILLR predictive model and for on-site testing, another order said. Although STELA didn’t specify an “outdoor” antenna, as SHVERA did, “the change in statutory language simply affords that Commission latitude to consider all types of antennas,” said the order. Also, “no reliable indoor testing method has been proposed,” the agency said. The use of an outdoor standard is also likely to be less “burdensome” to consumers during on-site testing, it said.
The FNPRM asks what modifications on the digital ILLR would “improve the accuracy and reliability of its predictions.” In response to filings from Sidney Shumate, identified as president of Givens and Bell, that say the current model isn’t always accurate, the agency asks for comparison between the digital model and a suggestion from Shumate. Shumate’s model “replaces the current line-of-sight loss calculation and calculates the losses close to obstructions using a scientifically-based system,” the FCC said.
"We are pleased that the FCC has established rules that allow us to provide significantly viewed stations under similar terms as cable, giving subscribers in these areas additional competitive choices,” said DirecTV. “We also welcome the further notice on the antenna standard to improve its accuracy. We want to ensure that when our subscribers are unable to receive a local signal, either through us or over-the-air, that they can get their network programming.” Dish Network and the NAB said they were still reviewing the documents.