TVFreedom framed Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act...

TVFreedom framed Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act reauthorization in terms of public safety Tuesday. The spokesman for the coalition of broadcaster interests, which includes NAB among many others, penned a blog post for The Hill (http://bit.ly/1rB3ynp)attacking pay-TV industry recommendations that STELA be amended to allow cable operators to remove broadcast stations from the basic tier. “Eliminating this rule would break from federal decision-makers’ long-standing commitment to first always ensure the safety of the American people in their deliberations on legislative and policy matters,” the TVFreedom spokesman said. The spokesman emphasized how emergency responders count on TV and radio broadcasters “to serve as necessary, real-time sources of information” in times of crisis. The coalition has advocated and advertised for a clean STELA reauthorization process. “If Congress decides to eliminate this consumer safeguard as part of STELA, it will be a disservice to the American public and begin to erode the fundamental premise that Washington’s lawmakers and policymakers have long stood by -- preserving public safety as a core ‘first principle’ in U.S. communications policy,” said the spokesman. The American Television Alliance, which includes several pay-TV industry members, has pushed back against broadcasters. “The government requires that broadcast TV stations be placed on a basic tier, forcing cable subscribers to purchase ‘free’ over-the-air broadcast signals, even if they don’t want them,” it said in a recent blog post (http://bit.ly/1fp5f7m). “A free market cannot exist for video when there are such rules explicitly labeled ‘must buy.'” STELA will expire at the end of 2014 unless Congress reauthorizes it.