FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has circulated orders and proposals to his colleagues related to the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act Reauthorization (STELAR) Act of 2014.
The Act instructs the agency to modernize rules regarding the satellite, cable, and broadcast television markets.
The commission is adopting a process, according to the chairman, so that parties may seek modification of a TV station’s local television market to add or delete communities in order to better reflect market realities. This process has been in place for cable since 1992, and this order will extend that process to the satellite market, but will now also allow local governments, as well as broadcasters and satellite providers, to seek changes to markets for purposes of satellite carriage.
He’s also circulating a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to review the so-called “totality of the circumstances test” for good faith negotiations over retransmission of broadcast TV signals.
