Members of Congress incapable of understanding local TV dangers they created
2 June 2021: As the attorneys I contacted last month have not responded, I contacted the Rose Law Group, a respected legal source for Pinal County citizens and the Pinal County Board of Supervisors, to learn if they would be interested in pursuing legal action for STELA reform. One hopes they realize that at least acknowledging the issue is good Legal Profession practice.
7 June 2021: While waiting for the attorneys I have contacted to respond, I sent the following to Congressman Tom O'Halleran in response to his declaring that STELA Reform is DOA. Instead, he sees the Internet as the alternative solution. On 11 June, I sent similarly worded letters to President Joe Biden; the House Committee on Energy and Commerce; Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr., Chairman of the Committee; Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, ranking Republican member of the Committee; the Federal Communications Commission; Pinal County Supervisor Kevin Cavanaugh; the Oracle Fire District Chief; and Chris Kline, President and CEO of the Arizona Broadcasters Association.
SUBJECT: Alternatives to correcting STELA
Congressman O'Halleran,
I know that you believe that there are viable alternatives to immediately correcting the flaws in the "Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act" (STELA) that put the lives of your constituents at risk and harm businesses in Pinal and Pima counties. I look forward to learning details of what those alternatives are and what your plans are to bring reliable, low-cost, high-speed Internet access to some locations in your District, including a timeline for southern Pinal County. While waiting to receive that information from you, I hope you will consider the following facts and present them to your colleagues in Congress.
As I have said before, using the Internet to view local TV livestreams is not a viable alternative solution to correcting STELA and the FCC Designated Market Area (DMA) for southern Pinal County. The Internet solution means that viewers must have reliable and high-speed broadband service (not necessarily true in rural areas), they must WANT to use the Internet (also not true for many citizens who worry about security), and they would have to pay TWICE for TV reception (once to their satellite TV provider for the benefits of satellite TV reception and second to their Internet Service Provider). Another reason that viewing live local TV video streams on the Internet is not a solution is that local business advertising shown during on-air live broadcasts is not always shown on the livestream, thereby preventing potential customers from seeing these local ads. Not seeing ads for local businesses during livestreams hurts businesses in both Pinal and Pima counties, as well as consumers in southern Pinal County.
It is not obvious that all local news and emergency information is offered as a TV station livestream. For example, many stations use banners at the bottom of the TV screen to alert viewers to urgent information. If the station is not livestreaming its broadcast, local citizens will be left uninformed.
With the Internet being an ideal target for hackers, if the Internet goes down, local citizens will not have access to important emergency information from local TV stations during a crisis.
With the Internet-based alternative, you will have to change FCC regulations or local TV station advertising contracts that prohibit the viewing of local business advertising during local TV livestreams. (I previously told you that I see car ads for a California business in place of local ads during a Tucson TV station livestream.) Also, the security of the Internet will need to be significantly improved.
If the Internet is still your chosen alternative, you will have to immediately provide citizens with reliable and inexpensive high-speed access to the Internet to view livestreams from the Tucson TV stations. That means computers or handheld devices will have to be made available to those citizens who do not have them and perhaps do not even want them as an alternative to viewing their local TV stations via their chosen TV provider.
As we all know, there are locations around the United States that have similar flawed DMA assignments. Using the Internet solution for southern Pinal County citizens would be just one piece of the solution needed. You would have to immediately bring similar solutions and FCC regulation and/or contract changes to stations in those areas. This will compound the complexity of this solution immensely.
Another alternative would be to mandate that all the Phoenix TV stations stop leaving southern Pinal County and Pima County news, weather, sports, advertising, and emergency information to their sister stations in Tucson, and properly cover their full FCC Designated Market Area. As it is now, the Phoenix stations do a superb job of serving central and northern Arizona, but they significantly underserve southern Pinal County even though all of Pinal County is in the Phoenix DMA. How this solution could be implemented, especially for Tucson area advertising, is unknown. Similar mandates in other market areas around the country would also need to be established.
There is one other alternative and that is for Congress to incentivize and pay cable TV companies to immediately install cable TV service in the rural unserved areas in southern Pinal County and across the country. As cable TV customers are exempt from the FCC DMA restriction that is forced on satellite TV customers, this would bring real local TV stations to these unserved areas. In addition, it would also bring high-speed Internet to those areas. However, without being adequately incentivized, cable TV companies will not bring cable service to low population rural areas. Satellite TV providers might object to such an approach as they would lose customers. Since the STELA legislation already treats customers of cable TV companies differently from customers of satellite TV companies living in the same area, such an approach could re-enforce the possibility that this part of the STELA legislation is unconstitutional.
Obviously, any of these alternatives will require a complex, years-long, difficult implementation. The dangerous and unfair STELA legislation that negatively impacts southern Pinal County and other locations in the US should not be used as a justification for these alternatives.
Tucson TV station managers understand the seriousness of this flaw in STELA. The Pinal County Board of Supervisors understands its seriousness. The Oracle Fire District Chief understands its seriousness. Those who live with this issue on a daily basis understand its seriousness. Unfortunately, those who do not live with the issue are immune to its harmful impacts. Members of Congress who live in and around Washington, DC, would not tolerate only being allowed to view TV stations in Philadelphia (124 miles away). Yet, that is exactly what some citizens in southern Pinal County are asked to tolerate: being forced to view TV stations 120 miles away (Phoenix) instead of stations 30 miles away (Tucson).
I realize that correcting STELA is a challenge for many reasons, including network and TV station rebroadcast contracts. But it makes more sense to just correct the problem at the source, which is of course, the STELA legislation.
STELA reform must not wait until the next crisis occurs, which could be weeks, days, or even hours away.
I welcome hearing your thoughts on these facts.
Respectfully,
Mike Weasner
STELA Reform Advocate
Oracle, Arizona
P.S. For your information, STELA reform is just one of the commitments I have made to our country since 1966. If you would like to learn more about my service to our country as a USAF jet fighter pilot, a manager on the USAF Space Shuttle Program, a senior manager at a large aerospace contractor, an advocate for ending Light Pollution and its harmful impacts on human health, wildlife, energy usage, and the climate, and much more, read my just-published autobiography "Finding my Way to the Stars". Details on the book are available at http://www.weasner.com/bio
I should have included this photo with my emails and letters as proof that the Pinal County Board of Supervisors has listened to me.
16 June 2021: I sent the following to the Rural Arizona Engagement (RAZE) organization.
SUBJECT: SUBJ: Rural Pinal County and Serious Local TV issue I am contacting you to make you aware of a very serious issue that puts the lives of citizens in rural southern Pinal County at risk and harms southern Pinal County consumers and businesses in both Pinal and Pima counties. This issue would seem to fit into the Rural Arizona Engagement (RAZE) mission of being an advocate for "...policies for the betterment of all its communities."
ISSUE: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) "Designated Market Area" (DMA) regulation prohibits some southern Pinal County residents from receiving Tucson TV stations via DirecTV and Dish TV satellite providers. Instead, the FCC requires that citizens only receive the Phoenix TV stations. DirecTV and Dish TV must comply with the FCC DMA regulation that puts all of Pinal County in the Phoenix TV market area. The Phoenix stations do a superb job of serving central and northern Arizona, but they significantly underserve southern Pinal County. The flawed market area assignment means that some Arizona citizens can not view their nearest TV stations that provide local news, weather, sports, advertising, and local emergency information. The FCC DMA regulation stems from the Congressional "Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act" (STELA) legislation. Since 2013 I have been working, with the support of the Pinal County Board of Supervisors, to get Congress and the FCC to fix the flawed, dangerous, and unfair STELA legislation and the FCC DMA regulation. Unfortunately, our elected representatives in Congress have continued to fail the citizens of rural Arizona and not enacted legislative change, even after they acknowledged the negative impacts from STELA during two local serious crises in 2020 (COVID-19 pandemic and the Bighorn Fire). I have documented my STELA Reform efforts at http://www.weasner.com/STELA
Tucson TV station managers understand the seriousness of this flaw in STELA. The Pinal County Board of Supervisors understands its seriousness. The Oracle Fire District Chief understands its seriousness. Citizens who live with this issue on a daily basis understand its seriousness. Unfortunately, those who do not live with the issue are immune to its impacts. Members of Congress who live in and around Washington, DC, would not tolerate being allowed to view only TV stations in Philadelphia (124 miles away). Yet, that is exactly what some citizens in southern Pinal County are asked to tolerate: being forced to view TV stations 120 miles away (Phoenix) instead of local TV stations 30 miles away (Tucson).
The STELA legislation treats customers of cable TV companies differently than customers of satellite TV companies living in the same area, possibly making this part of the STELA legislation unconstitutional.
Resolution of this issue would benefit from RAZE involvement. I hope RAZE will take up the challenge to get Congress and the FCC to immediately enact appropriate changes to allow all southern Pinal County citizens to view Tucson TV stations. The next crisis could be weeks, days, or hours away. As Arizona is already experiencing another major year for wildfires, failure of Congress to act should not be an option.
Contact me to learn more. As the Pinal County "point person" on this issue, I welcome hearing from you on how RAZE can assist with urgent STELA Reform.
Mike Weasner
STELA Reform Advocate
Oracle, Arizona
30 June 2021: The Arizona law offices I contacted last month and earlier this month have failed to respond. The RAZE organization has also not responded. Makes one wonder about their commitment to the communities they serve. I stumbled upon this article "It's Time to Let STELA Go Off Into the Sunset and Reform Video Marketplace Regulation" by attorney Ben Sperry, written in December 2019. I emailed him to thank him for writing the article.
I recently reached out to the Tucson TV station managers, the Arizona Broadcasters Association, and businesses that are being harmed by the flawed STELA legislation to see if there is interest in establishing a "STELA Reform Coalition". So far one local business that has been directly impacted by the unfair legislation for three decades has agreed to join the Coalition. I'm waiting for more responses. This is what I sent to the potential Coalition members.
Some of you know me from my past contacts regarding my ongoing efforts on "Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act" (STELA) and FCC "Designated Market Area" (DMA) reform. For those who do not, let me give you some personal background. I will then get into the purpose of this email.
I have a B.S. degree in Astrophysics and served in the United States Air Force as a jet fighter pilot, jet fighter instructor pilot, and a manager on the USAF Space Shuttle Program. After the Air Force I rose to senior management positions at a major aerospace contractor, retiring in 2007. My wife and I moved to Oracle in 2009, where I established my own astronomical observatory. In 2014, I led the effort to have Oracle State Park be designated as an "International Dark Sky Park" by the International Dark-Sky Association, becoming the first park in the Arizona State Parks system to receive that prestigious honor. If you want to learn more about me, see http://www.weasner.com/mike/mlw.html.
After moving to Oracle, we were surprised to learn that the Federal Government prohibited us from watching the Tucson TV stations via a satellite TV provider. Instead the Government requires that we only receive the Phoenix TV stations. That means we, and other southern Pinal County residents, cannot view the nearest TV stations with their local news, weather, sports, business advertising, and local emergency information (i.e., severe weather, wildfires, other). Since 2013 I have been the Pinal County "point person" on STELA reform. With the support of the Pinal County Board of Supervisors, I have tried to get Congress and the FCC to enact a "Market Area Modification" for southern Pinal County to fix the flawed, dangerous, and unfair STELA legislation and the FCC DMA regulation. Without such a change, local lives are put at risk and local businesses that advertise on the Tucson stations are harmed. During his visit to Oracle in May 2018, Congressman Tom O'Halleran agreed that the DMA was dangerous and unfair to southern Pinal County citizens and Pima and Pinal County businesses. But he took no action. Unfortunately, in April 2020, Congressman O'Halleran's staff recommended that the Pinal County Board of Supervisors suspend their DMA modification petition effort. Our elected representatives in Congress have continued to fail the citizens of Arizona and not enacted legislative change, even after they acknowledged the negative impacts from STELA during two local serious crises in 2020 (COVID-19 pandemic and the Bighorn Fire). My STELA Reform efforts are documented at http://www.weasner.com/STELA.
ISSUE:
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) "Designated Market Area" (DMA) regulation prohibits some southern Pinal County residents from receiving Tucson TV stations (30 miles away) via DirecTV and Dish TV satellite providers. Instead, the FCC DMA regulation, which puts all of Pinal County in the Phoenix TV market area, requires that citizens only receive the Phoenix TV stations (120 miles away). The Phoenix stations do a superb job of serving central and northern Arizona, but they significantly underserve southern Pinal County. The flawed market area assignment means that some Arizona citizens cannot view their nearest TV stations that provide local news, weather, sports, advertising, and local emergency information.
Those who do not live with the issue are immune to its impacts. Members of Congress who live in and around Washington, DC, would not tolerate being allowed to view only TV stations in Philadelphia (120 miles away). Yet, that is exactly what some citizens in southern Pinal County are asked to tolerate: being forced to view TV stations 120 miles away (Phoenix) instead of local TV stations 30 miles away (Tucson).
The STELA legislation treats customers of cable TV companies differently from customers of satellite TV companies living in the same area, possibly making this part of the STELA legislation unconstitutional.
Some members of Congress have the incorrect belief that using the Internet to view local TV livestreams is a viable alternative solution to correcting STELA and the FCC DMA for southern Pinal County. The Internet solution means that viewers must have reliable and high-speed broadband service (not necessarily true in rural areas), they must WANT to use the Internet (not true for citizens who worry about security), and they would have to pay TWICE for TV reception (once to their satellite TV provider for the benefits of satellite TV reception and second to an Internet Service Provider). Further, it is not obvious that all local news and emergency information is offered as a TV station livestream. For example, many stations use banners at the bottom of the TV screen to alert viewers to urgent information. If the station is not livestreaming its broadcast, local citizens will be left uninformed. Another reason that viewing live local TV video streams on the Internet is not a solution is that local business advertising shown during on-air live broadcasts is not always shown on the livestream, thereby preventing potential customers from seeing these local ads. In fact, I have seen replacement ads for out-of-state businesses on Tucson TV livestreams. Not being able to see commercials for local businesses during livestreams hurts businesses in both Pinal and Pima counties as well as consumers in southern Pinal County. It makes more sense to just correct the problem at the source, which is of course, the STELA legislation.
The STELA legislation must be fixed immediately, but there are challenges to overcome or work around. There are network and TV station rebroadcast contracts that might need to be revised. Some Tucson stations may be part of a larger corporation that also owns stations in Phoenix, and so there could be some concern about market size impacts to the Phoenix DMA. However, viewers who would be switched from the Phoenix DMA to the Tucson DMA in the market modification would not be a significant percentage of the existing Phoenix DMA. In fact, there could be a net increase in market share for the larger corporations as there are southern Pinal County residents who refuse to sign up for satellite TV unless they can receive the Tucson stations. There are other real and perceived difficulties, but I believe that solutions can be found and implemented.
PROPOSAL:
A "STELA Reform Coalition" be formed to bring increased pressure on Congress to act responsibly on urgently needed action. Membership would include Tucson TV station managers, business owners who advertise on the Tucson stations, the Arizona Broadcasters Association President, the Pinal County Board of Supervisors, the Oracle Fire District Chief, National Weather Service Tucson, and myself. There may be others you know who would also be interested in joining the Coalition. If so, feel free to contact them.
SUGGESTED COALITION ACTIONS:
The following are concepts for the main actions by the Coalition. There could be other actions as determined by the Coalition.
1. Station managers contact businesses, large and small, who advertise with them and invite them to join the Coalition. Explain the harm that has been and continues to be done to them by STELA and the FCC DMA.
2. Draft a letter to be sent to Congressman Tom O'Halleran (representing southern Pinal County), Congressman Raúl M. Grijalva (representing Pima County), the House Energy and Commerce Committee (responsible for the STELA legislation), and the Federal Communications Commission. The letter would document:
a. the issue and its negative impacts
b. make recommendations, including a timeline for implementation
3. Distribute the final letter for all Coalition members to sign. Once all members have signed, send the letter to the recipients.
4. Set up a Zoom conference call with Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce), Congressman Tom O'Halleran (a member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce), Congressman Raúl M. Grijalva, and members of the Coalition to discuss this issue and seek an immediate solution. Follow-up conference calls would be held as needed.
I welcome your thoughts on forming a STELA Reform Coalition. I hope that you will agree that STELA and DMA reform is urgently needed to support citizens and businesses in Arizona. The next crisis could be weeks, days, or hours away.
Mike Weasner
STELA Reform Advocate
Oracle, Arizona
STELA Reform Coalition efforts
Main Flawed STELA Legislation page