DISH, DIRECTV Seek Broadcasters' Help Serving Rural Markets

Two of the largest satellite TV services in the U.S., DIRECTV Group Inc. (DTV) and DISH Network Corp. (DISH), asked lawmakers Tuesday for financial help from TV broadcasters to beam local television service into all of the country's 210 markets.

Right now, about 30 markets don't have access to satellite TV service. Some areas, mostly rural and sparsely populated, lack access to all four major networks, Walt Disney Co.'s (DIS) ABC, CBS Corp.'s (CBS) CBS network, NBC, a unit of General Electric Co. (GE) and Fox. Fox's parent, News Corp. (NWSA), owns Dow Jones & Co., the publisher of Dow Jones Newswires.

House Energy and Commerce Telecommunications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., said at a hearing that it would cost roughly $30 million collectively to extend satellite service to unserved markets.

The subcommittee is drafting legislation to reauthorize the law giving satellite providers their national licenses. Parts of the statute expire at the end of this year, and the renewal is considered "must-pass."

Boucher, who represents several rural counties in southern Virginia, is coaxing satellite providers to offer service in all TV markets as his congressional panel writes the bill.

"Asking satellite carriers alone to expand further to every market and every consumer is a substantial burden, a burden that is not being asked of broadcasters or the cable industry," said DISH Executive Vice President and General Counsel Stanton Dodge.

"There should be clear financial commitments from broadcasters to share in the burden of getting local TV service to remote areas," Dodge said.

DIRECTV agrees with the proposal. If Boucher's bill requires satellite service in all 210 markets, it also should "require local broadcasters to share in the costs," according to written testimony from DIRECTV's Content Strategy Executive Vice President Derek Chang.

Boucher asked National Association of Broadcasters Television Board Chairman Paul Karpowicz whether TV stations would be willing to pony up some cash to be carried by satellite TV in rural areas. "The broadcasters have a tremendous interest in getting all 210 markets served," Boucher said.

Karpowicz said NAB has established a subcommittee to examine the satellite companies' proposal and produce its own cost estimates. Broadcasters are ready to work with lawmakers and the satellite operators, he added.

-By Fawn Johnson, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9263; [e-mail]