Boucher Tells NAB to Negotiate on Radio Royalty Bill

“The goal ought to be parity,” Boucher said. Broadcasting is the only industry exempt from royalty payments. Boucher said the House could pass a bill requiring broadcasters to pay, and negotiating on the matter is in broadcasters’ long-term interest. There could come a time when revenue from online radio streams could be even more valuable than terrestrial broadcasts, he said. Broadcasters would benefit from taking part of negotiations that produce a fairer, across-the-board rate, he said.

Boucher’s idea was met with silence in the NAB audience. The chairman told reporters that a broadcaster after the speech thanked him for the suggestion but another said the time wasn’t right. It wasn’t the first time Boucher has suggested that broadcasters sit down at the table. They have declined. It is the first time Boucher has had the chance to speak at the NAB’s legislative conference.

The NAB showed no sign of yielding. A written statement from Executive Vice President Dennis Wharton released after Boucher’s speech said the “real negotiation should take place between the record labels and recording artists.” After the labels “have renegotiated all the abusive deals they have forced on artists, they should come to see us,” he said.

Boucher pleased broadcasters with his promise to draft narrow satellite-reauthorization legislation, keeping out any changes in retransmission consent. He said he supports requiring local-into-local carriage in all 210 designated market areas. It doesn’t exist in 30 markets. Boucher believes that importing distant signals in adjacent markets is appropriate in so-called short markets where not all network affiliates are carried. But the issue gets more complex in situations where designated market areas straddle state lines. Boucher noted that Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark., is working on a bill on the question that the broadcasters oppose (CD March 31 p9). Boucher urged broadcasters to get involved in negotiations to work out an agreement with pay-TV providers.

The Senate Commerce Committee is studying the satellite issue and polling members about their concerns, said committee senior counsel Jessica Rosenworcel. She and other House and Senate Commerce aides said they didn’t envision a push to consider changes to the retransmission consent regime as the satellite bill moves forward. The only way that would change is if broadcasters pull signals from viewers in a carriage dispute, which would bring “heightened concern” in Congress about the system, she said. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., wants an FCC that makes decisions based on consumers’ best interests, not ideology, she said.

House Commerce ranking member Joe Barton of Texas remains eager for greater openness at the commission, said committee GOP senior counsel Neil Fried. Barton introduced legislation last Congress to require the text of proposed rules to be published before a vote. Barton wants deadlines on the release of order texts after the commission adopts orders. The lag can be several weeks.

The Senate committee hopes to move soon on confirming a chief for the NTIA, Rosenworcel said. The White House announced last week it wants Larry Stickling to have the job. Another telecom priority for Rockefeller is an FCC revamp, but there were no details on whether legislation will come out soon or what it would provide.

Not on the agenda are any efforts to revive the fairness doctrine or to delay the DTV transition again, Boucher said. “We do not anticipate any further major problems” with the transition, he said. The only “clouds on the horizon” come from uncertainty about the availability of converter boxes, a concern that arose during an oversight hearing last week. “We had some testimony suggesting there might be problems,” he said, and “we're going to continue to follow up on that to make sure that manufacturers are doing what they can in order to meet the demand.” - Anne Veigle