House passes five-year extension of satellite TV licenses

The House today passed a five-year extension of the licenses that allow satellite television providers to broadcast local stations to customers. The bill will now head to the President for a signature after it was unanimously approved by the Senate on May 7.

“This legislation modernizes and extends important statutory copyright licenses that allow cable and satellite companies to retransmit the content transmitted by television broadcasters,” said the bill's author Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.  “This is a good bill that will preserve and improve the service that customers across the country are accustomed to receiving, and I am pleased that it will finally be signed into law.”

According to a release from Leahy's office the bill, dubbed the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act (STELA), will reauthorize expiring licenses that allow satellite providers to retransmit broadcast stations to consumers and encourage them to provide more local content. The licenses were set to expire on May 31.