Senators look to fix snags with satellite TV

Mark D. Preston

Thursday, March 11, 1999 | 11:28 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- From a window in his Henderson home, Frank Higgins can see the towers that send local television signals to Las Vegas residents and visitors every day. But for Higgins, location isn't everything.

Higgins said he is unable to receive clear reception from almost all of the local stations, and he had to purchase a satellite dish just to be able to watch television.

"The reception is inconsistent at best ... at worst it is nonexistent," Higgins said.

However, as a satellite subscriber, Higgins is unable to view programming from Las Vegas' four major networks, keeping him from watching locally produced programming such as the news. His ABC and NBC programming originates from stations in New York and Los Angeles and, up until Feb. 28, he watched Atlanta's Fox affiliate and CBS' San Francisco station.

But last month, a federal judge in Miami ordered satellite companies to cut off 700,000 dish owners from CBS and Fox distant-network feeds. ABC, NBC and the other network affiliates were not affected by the order.

The court charged that the satellite companies were illegally offering these "distant" network stations to customers who were not eligible to receive them under current federal law. Another 700,000 to 1 million people are slated to lose satellite transmission of CBS and Fox on April 30.

This has caused an uproar among owners of satellite dishes throughout Nevada. Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., said his office has received more than 3,000 letters, calls and e-mails in the past six months from residents concerned about losing the CBS and Fox programming. Nevada has an estimated 75,000 satellite dishes.

Congress stepped in Wednesday and made the first move toward providing temporary relief to the more than 1.5 million satellite owners expected to lose CBS and Fox programming. The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee agreed Wednesday to move legislation to the Senate floor for a vote that would temporarily allow the service to be restored until Dec. 31, 1999.

The legislation also would allow satellite companies to provide customers with the local network affiliates, letting viewers watch local news and programming. This is very important for Nevada residents living in areas where there is little or no signal, according to Bryan, who serves on the committee.

"For thousands of Nevadans with inadequate over-the-air signals, this is the only way that they can get network television," he said.

From a competitive standpoint, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said, the legislation will help break up the cable monopoly, which now carries the network signals.

"If satellite TV service can't be as stable and competitive as cable TV service, cable TV consumers will find themselves at the mercy of cable TV rate increases imposed at will by an unregulated provider of a monopoly service," McCain, chairman of the committee, said.

But not everybody is happy with Wednesday's committee vote, including the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and one local affiliate, KVVU Fox 5 Las Vegas.

"We're disappointed with the vote in the Senate Commerce Committee, but we appreciate the bipartisan efforts of ... members who voted to protect the integrity of local broadcast markets," Edward O. Fritts, NAB president, said. "We will redouble our efforts to prove the merits of our case as we continue through the legislative process."

Jack C. Smith, director of Engineering for KVVU, said that when people purchase a satellite dish, they are making the choice not to receive local programming. Smith said there is a misconception that a broadcast signal is free and everyone is entitled to it, but he points out that television is much like any other business.

"This is what we sell," he said. "This is our product. It is our franchise, and we need to have them watch it here."

Smith said people with satellite dishes should put an antenna on their roof if they want to see local stations. He said there is a misconception that people are not allowed to erect antennas because their homeowner's association or apartment complex forbids them. But Smith said the 1996 Telecommunications Act allows for television antennas and the federal law overrules any local zoning ordinances.

In rare cases, KVVU grants "waivers" to people living in certain areas such as Mount Charleston where the signal does not reach, allowing those people to legally receive the signal, Smith said.

But the station will not grant waivers to people living in motor homes because they cannot enforce the waiver restriction if the owners drive outside of KVVU's viewership area. "I can sympathize with these people if they are sitting out in the middle of nowhere," Smith said. "But we can't grant them a waiver because they might enter another market."

Hope might be on the horizon for the consumers, broadcasters and satellite providers.

In the short term, Bryan said he expects a swift legislative handling of the bill to provide relief to satellite owners.

And Smith predicts this issue will all "blow over" in the next two years with an agreement worked out to let satellite-dish owners receive local broadcasts.

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