Republican lawmakers introduce bill to reform retransmission consent

Two Republican lawmakers introduced bills in the House and Senate on Friday that could spark major reforms of retransmission-consent rules that have allowed broadcasters to collect increased fees from cable and satellite providers that carry their signals.

The Next Generation Television Marketplace Act, introduced by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and Rep. Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana), would repeal laws that mandate the carriage of local broadcast signals and repeal the retransmission-consent and compulsory license provisions from the Communications Act.

The legislation was cheered by DirecTV (Nasdaq: DTV), which has teamed up with cable TV providers to push for reform of retransmission-consent rules. The National Association of Broadcasters, whose members are using retransmission-consent fees to counter decreased ad revenue at local TV stations, said it was opposed to the bill.

"This legislation would eliminate byzantine regulations that shackle innovation, competition and consumer choice," DirecTV said in a prepared statement.

The bill is being introduced as several local pay TV distributors are battling with local broadcasters and station groups over demands that affiliates pay increased fees to carry local broadcast signals, including Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC), Verizon (NYSE: VZ), AT&T (NYSE: T) and Cable One.

The legislation could create a dilemma for the National Cable & Telecommunications Association. While most cable operators that belong to the NCTA would support retransmission-consent reform, Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) - its largest member - is counting on significant increases in the fees it collects from its NBC stations to grow revenue.

For  more:
- see this release from Rep. Scalise
- TVNewsCheck has this story

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