“Given the ongoing COVID-19 national emergency, the availability of local broadcast programming is more important now than ever”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) and Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) and Representative Adrian Smith (R-Neb.) today wrote a letter to AT&T urging the company to provide local broadcast programming to all of its subscribers in Nebraska. This includes subscribers in the North Platte and Scottsbluff media market areas who currently lack access to local broadcast channels on AT&T’s satellite TV platform, DIRECTV. 

“It is imperative that your subscribers located in rural markets, where there is an increased reliance on satellite services, can receive local news, weather reports, and emergency alerts,” the letter reads. “Given the ongoing COVID-19 national emergency, the availability of local broadcast programming is more important now than ever. All Nebraska residents, no matter their location, need to be able to stay informed on statewide and local efforts to combat the pandemic.”

More information:

The recently passed Satellite Television Community Protection and Promotion Act (P.L. 116-94 “STCPPA”) that became law in December 2019 seeks to incentivize satellite TV carriage of local broadcast signals in every media market nationwide, including the smaller, rural markets that AT&T/DIRECTV historically has failed to carry. Effective May 31, 2020, the STCPPA requires carriage of local broadcast stations in all 210 local markets as a precondition to be able to continue using distant signals. Currently, subscribers in and around North Platte and Scottsbluff lack access to local news programming on AT&T’s DIRECTV satellite service.

A full version of the letter is available here.