Grange to Congress: Time running out for rural satellite TV consumers
The Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act Reauthorization (STELAR) Act helps to ensure that many Americans, mostly in rural and underserved areas, maintain access to broadcast network programming. Rural residents are disproportionately and unnecessarily at risk of losing access to critical information and entertainment if Congress fails to reauthorize STELAR before it expires on December 31st.
The legislation supports communities who are not served by major broadcast networks such as ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC by codifying a distance signal license. This enables satellite and pay-TV providers to import broadcast signals to customers that do not receive local programming. If the distant signal license expires with STELAR at the end of the year, 870,000 Americans – many of whom are rural – will wake up on January 1st, 2020 without the basic network programming they currently receive and pay for.
The legislation also protects consumers by encouraging broadcasters to negotiate in good faith with satellite providers and by helping to curb the troubling trend of price hikes and programming blackouts directly impacting consumers across the country. Without STELAR, broadcasters will ultimately impose higher costs on rural communities while also stripping them of essential programming.
Closing the digital divide is challenging enough as it is—let’s not make it worse. Congress must act swiftly to preserve STELAR and its consumer-focused protections. It’s not too late for Congress to come together and support this popular, bipartisan initiative.
