The National Cable & Telecommunications Association accentuated the positive in S. 2799, urging "swift passage" of the Satellite Television Access and Viewer Rights Act (STAVRA), a new version of the Senate Commerce Committee satellite compulsory license reauthorization legislation.
The bill has been pared of many of its original video reforms, like the "Local Choice" remake of the retrans system cable ops had applauded, and getting the FCC into vetting retrans contracts and over-the-top video access. But, it puts an exclamation point on FCC efforts to prevent coordinated retrans by non-commonly owned stations in the same market, and makes some other "targeted" reforms, which NCTA suggested were on balance a positive.
It also gets rid of the ban on integrated set-tops, which had been one of NCTA's big asks.
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