Stakeholders Seen Wading into STELA Debate, More Hill Work Unlikely Until 2019
Media market stakeholders are likely to launch further salvos over the next two months in a bid to define the contours of the coming Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act reauthorization debate, but Capitol Hill is unlikely to wade further into the issue until the 116th Congress convenes next year, lawmakers and lobbyists told us. The recertification process was seen as unlikely to start in earnest until after January. The issue factored into a September House Communications Subcommittee hearing (see 1809270062).
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The Senate Commerce Committee “hasn’t really set a post-election agenda yet,” though STELA and media market issues generally are “topics that are worthy of some interest,” said Chairman John Thune, R-S.D. It’s still more likely the committee will wait to hold hearings on recertification until next Congress. “It’ll get started soon enough,” Thune said. Industry lobbyists cited continued uncertainty about which party will control the Senate after the November elections as a reason Senate Commerce has avoided publicly examining reauthorization. Some also pointed to the Senate Commerce chairmanship's likely turnover. Thune is looking to move up in the chamber’s GOP leadership to take over as the party’s whip from Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who's term-limited in that position.
House Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., told us just before the election recess that he expected the committee would hold additional hearings on STELA and media market issues to supplement the September panel. He's uncertain any of them would happen during the remainder of this Congress. Walden said he's also uncertain whether STELA reauthorization is needed given changes in the media landscape but looks forward to a “healthy” discussion. House Commerce is waiting to get full responses to lawmakers’ additional questions for the record from witnesses at the September hearing, an aide said.
Any turnover of House control to the Democrats could put further hearings this year into serious doubt, though a STELA hearing is unlikely even if the GOP keeps its majority, lobbyists said. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., likely will remain a “significant” driver of the STELA debate even if the GOP moves into the minority because he will still play a leadership role and has filed his related Next Generation Television Marketplace Act (HR-6465), a media lobbyist said. That bill would repeal compulsory copyright licenses and retransmission provisions of the 1992 Cable Act and end Communications Act mandates on carriage and purchase of certain broadcast signals by MVPDs (see 1807230044).
STELA reauthorization, HR-6465 and media market issues emerged in Q3 as topics lobbyists discussed on Capitol Hill, though the number of interested parties was limited. Google and Amazon were among those reporting increased lobbying expenditures for the quarter compared with 2017, while AT&T and Comcast reported decreases (see 1810230052).
STELA recertification showed up in the reports of CBS, Hubbard Broadcasting, NAB and NCTA. They and eight other entities lobbied on HR-6465. The others were the American Cable Association, AT&T, the Center for Individual Freedom, Charter, ITTA, National Religious Broadcasters, NTCA and Verizon.
Lobbyists for 14 entities reported talking to the Hill about retrans consent rules, an issue many lobbyists identify as a likely target in future STELA talks. Those entities included 21st Century Fox, the American Television Alliance, Consumers Union, North Carolina Association of Broadcasters, TDS Telecom, Univision and Writers Guild of America West. Comcast and 10 other companies and groups reported lobbying on general “media marketplace” issues.
Industry briefing memos and letters to Capitol Hill on STELA are likely to continue in the coming weeks and months, though some lobbyists said their clients are waiting until after the elections so they can tailor their arguments to potential changes in the House and Senate Commerce and Judiciary committees. NAB backs letting STELA sunset, but the Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association urged Congress renew the statute (see 1810090045 and 1810180040). Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy and independent programmers separately wrote lawmakers urging them to use the STELA debate to alter several media rules (see 1810050054 and 1810160058).
It’s striking NAB and SBCA frame their arguments from a deregulatory angle despite being on opposite ends of the STELA debate, said R Street Institute Technology Policy Manager Tom Struble. “Both sides seem to be speaking the right language," he said. Some revamp of the existing rules appears possible based on that deregulatory stance, “but it’s far too early for me to say what the most likely” solution is.
“If we were to just authorize STELA again,” that would extend the statute through the end of 2024, “basically kicking the can past the next presidential election, and [the law] is already showing its strain,” Struble said. Two media lobbyists whose clients support STELA believe Congress will renew the statute after thorough review.
Other “players in the ecosystem” also need to engage in the STELA debate, Struble said. “I would be very curious to hear what some of the nonbroadcaster programmers, the content distributors and non-satellite MVPDs, have to say. I would hope they all favor some sort of reform.” Struble and lobbyists want to hear from tech sector over-the-top providers like Google and Facebook, whose role in the media market has changed dramatically since the last STELA debate.