WASHINGTON, DC -- Schurz Communications Senior Vice-President of Broadcasting Marci Burdick testified this morning before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology at a hearing entitled "The Satellite Television Law: Repeal, Reauthorize, or Revise?"
Below is a transcript of her testimony as prepared for delivery.
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Good morning, Chairman Walden, Ranking Member Eshoo, and members of this Subcommittee. My name is Marci Burdick, and I am the Senior Vice President of Schurz Communications where I oversee eight television stations, three cable companies and 13 radio stations. I am also the Television Board Chair for the NAB, on whose behalf I testify today.
Local broadcast television remains unique because it is free, it is local and it is always on – even when other forms of communication may fail. Television broadcasters are the most watched media for high quality entertainment, sporting events, local news, emergency weather warnings and disaster coverage.
Schurz has stations in tornado-prone places like Wichita, Kansas, and Springfield, Missouri. I can tell you from my own personal experience, our viewers rely on us to stay informed during times of weather emergencies, not unlike the terrible storms we've seen this year.
With that backdrop, thank you for the opportunity to be here today to discuss the reauthorization of the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act, or STELA. As broadcasters, we approach this debate asking a simple question: Is satellite’s distant signal compulsory license still in the public interest?
We know the universe of distant signals is shrinking and more and more viewers are receiving their local programming through satellite. Today DISH provides local-into-local service in all 210 television markets, and DirecTV in 197 markets. To justify the extension of this law, however, we need more specific information. For instance, how many subscribers rely on the distant signal? How many subscribers are "grandfathered" but also receive local-into-local service? What is the number of subscribers that receive the distant signal only for use in a boat or RV? Unfortunately, this information resides only in the hands of Dish and DirecTV. By digging into these facts, we can have an honest debate about whether this law is still needed.
At a minimum, NAB asks this Committee to embrace a clean reauthorization that does not include unrelated and highly controversial provisions that undermine the ability of broadcasters to provide high quality and locally-focused content. For example, some would like to use the STELA reauthorization to make drastic changes to a free marketplace negotiation called retransmission consent. I believe such changes would harm consumers.
I’ve been with Schurz Communications for 25 years and I come to this hearing with a unique perspective on the video marketplace. My company is a member of both NAB and ACA – we are a broadcaster and a cable operator. I can tell you that from our vantage point, as a small company that has been on both sides of the retransmission consent negotiating table, the current system works.
So I ask this Subcommittee – if it isn’t broken, why fix it? The retransmission consent system in place today has a success rate of 99%. Only in Washington, DC, could something that works 99% of the time, providing for thousands of deals every year, be called “broken.” This success rate trumps the effectiveness of the best medicines, the free throw percentage of the most accurate basketball player, and the approval ratings of the Dalai Lama and the Pope; yet no one would ever doubt whether those are effective.The false fixes being suggested by my friends in the cable and satellite industry not only would harm consumers, but would do nothing to improve on the system that we have today. In fact, the effect would be just the opposite.
One proposal would allow the importation of distant, out-of-market signals in the event of a contractual impasse. In the real world, that means Congress would negate existing contracts between the broadcast networks, like ABC, and their local affiliates, like KOHD in Bend, Oregon or KGO in the Bay Area. If Congress were to allow distant signals to come into local markets, you will have gutted my affiliation contract, while leaving viewers in Bend, Oregon or the Bay Area to receive perhaps Los Angeles news and sports.
Additionally, by allowing distant signal importation, Congress would be placing its thumb on the bargaining scales by fundamentally skewing the negotiating leverage of the parties. The resulting effect would be MORE contractual impasses, not less. With fewer viewers and less advertising dollars, the localism television broadcasters provide would be compromised. This would ultimately leave your viewers with less local community programming; your local businesses with fewer places to reach local customers through TV advertising; and politicians with no effective medium to reach their constituents. None of this is good for the consumer.
In conclusion, as television broadcasters, we aren't coming to Congress asking for a leg up in our negotiations, or for changes to a law to benefit one side or another. We will fight our own fights, we want to make our own deals - we only ask that Congress not tip the scales in favor of any one industry.
I thank you for inviting me here today, and I look forward to your questions.
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About
NAB
The National Association of Broadcasters is the premier advocacy association
for America's broadcasters. NAB advances radio and television interests
in legislative, regulatory and public affairs. Through advocacy, education
and innovation, NAB enables broadcasters to best serve their communities,
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