FCC DMA Story sent to Representative Juan Ciscomani
20 February 2024: I submitted the following to Representative Juan Ciscomani on his SHARE YOUR STORY page.
In 2009, when my wife and I moved to Oracle, Arizona, we were surprised to learn that the Federal Government prohibited us from watching the Tucson TV stations (30 miles away) via a satellite TV provider. Instead the Government required that we only receive the Phoenix TV stations (about 120 miles away). That meant we could not view the nearest TV stations with their local news, weather, sports, advertising, and local emergency information.
We tolerated the flawed Federal legislation for a few years, but in January 2013, I contacted the Arizona office of Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick, then the Representative for our District, about the issue. An Arizona-based member of her staff provided me with a lot of helpful assistance and information about the "Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act" (STELA) legislation that Congress had passed. DirecTV and Dish TV must comply with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Designated Market Area (DMA) regulation that puts all of Pinal County in the Phoenix TV market area. Although I was assured that her Washington, DC, office would be notified of the issue that was putting lives at risk and harming local businesses, no action was taken by Representative Kirkpatrick to correct the legislation.
In September 2015, I was contacted directly by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as a result of a formal complaint I had filed earlier in 2015. I was advised that a local government body could petition the FCC for a "Market Area Modification". I was informed that the FCC could take up to 10 years to approve the change due to all the processes it had to follow. Using this new information, I contacted the Pinal County Board of Supervisors and requested that they submit a "Market Area Modification" for southern Pinal County to the FCC. As the Supervisors had received many complaints over the years, they began working on a petition.
In May 2018, Congressman Tom O'Halleran visited Oracle. In front of many local residents, including some who knew of my long time efforts with Congresswoman Kirkpatrick and Congressman O'Halleran, I personally asked the Congressman what action was being taken on this serious issue. He expressed surprise to learn about the issue as his staff had never informed him of the dangerous and unfair FCC regulation that impacted his District. He publicly acknowledged that the law was flawed, dangerous, and unfair to his constituents in southern Pinal County. He said he would take action. However, nothing happened in Congress to correct the issue. Congressman O'Halleran felt, like many in Congress, that the Internet would correct for the flaws in the FCC DMA. However, the Internet is NOT a viable solution for watching live local TV as livestream broadcasts are limited to specific times of day, advertising is frequently not from local businesses, older residents may not have needed equipment, bandwidth in rural areas of southern Pinal County is limited and expensive, and there are security issues with using Internet connected devices.
As I had become the FCC DMA "point person" for Pinal County, I participated in a conference call in April 2020 initiated by Congressman O'Halleran's Senior Legislative Assistant as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic impact on the issue. On the call were Congressman O'Halleran's Senior Legislative Assistant, a Pinal County Supervisor, and others to discuss the FCC DMA regulation. Everyone on the call agreed that the DMA regulation is illogical and flawed. I stated that Congress created the problem years ago and that Congress needed to fix the legislation immediately. Based on what was needed to enact a change in the legislation, the Pinal County Board of Supervisors stopped further FCC DMA "Market Area Modification" petition work pending Congressional action. As a follow-up to the April conference call, in May 2020, Congressman O'Halleran's office reported that there is "a statutory hurdle the Commission would have to consider in any market modification request for Pinal County." This "statutory hurdle" created by Congress prevented Congressional action on the issue. Interpretation: "What Congress created, Congress could NOT (or would NOT) fix".
In February 2021, the Pinal County Board of Supervisors resumed its efforts to prepare a "Market Area Modification" petition for submission to the FCC. The petition was submitted to the FCC in December 2023, nearly 11 years after I began working to get this serious issue corrected.
Over the years I have written many letters and emails to elected officials, TV station managers, DirecTV, and others in my efforts to get Congress and the FCC to stop putting local lives at risk and harming local businesses by enacting a "Market Area Modification" for southern Pinal County, Arizona. Several opportunities were available to members of Congress to enact meaningful change, including the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act Reauthorization Act of 2014 (STELAR) and the "Satellite Television Community Protection and Promotion Act of 2019" (STCPPA). Unfortunately, our Federal Government has continued to fail the citizens of southern Arizona and not enacted necessary change, even with two local serious crises in 2020 (COVID-19 pandemic and the Bighorn Fire). This issue is not specific to southern Pinal County, Arizona, as it also affects several other locations in the United States. Yet, Congress has failed the citizens of the United States.
Now that a Pinal County "Market Area Modification" petition has been submitted to the FCC, the clock is ticking. But local citizens and businesses must not be forced to wait 10 years for this issue to be resolved. As the Pinal County Satellite TV Reform Advocate, I will be watching closely to see if Congress and the FCC continue to fail American citizens. I hope that Congressman Ciscomani will support his constituents, both residents and business owners in his District, by demanding immediate action by the FCC on this urgent and critical issue and approve the requested "Market Area Modification" for southern Pinal County with immediate implementation by satellite TV providers. We must not be forced to wait for the next crisis to occur, which could be weeks, days, or hours away.
22 February 2024: I received this response.
While not exactly an endorsement of needed Satellite TV Reform, at least Representative Ciscomani (or his staff) is now fully aware of the issue. I encourage impacted individuals in southern Pinal County to submit their "story" on his SHARE YOUR STORY page.
FCC APPROVES TV MARKET MODIFICATION FOR PINAL COUNTY!!!
Main Flawed Satellite TV Regulation page