Sources: STELA Hearing Teed Up for Feb. 13

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According to sources, the House Communications Subcommittee
has scheduled a hearing for Feb. 13 at 10:30 a.m. on renewing the Satellite
Television Extension and Localism Act (STELA) for another five years. It is
scheduled to expire at the end of 2014.

STELA provides the blanket license that allows satellite
operators to deliver distant signals to subscribers who cannot get a viewable
signal from their local TV station affiliate.

NAB has been asked to testify, and will provide a witness,
according to a source familiar with the invitation.

Also asked to testify, according to sources, are the Motion
Picture Association of America and satellite companies DirecTV and Dish.

Communications Subcommittee Greg Walden had
indicated to reporters last month that STELA reauthorization was teed up for a
hearing early in the new session.

John Eggerton
John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.