WASHINGTON, D.C. - The House Subcommittee on Telecommunications Thursday marked-up the Local Broadcast Signal Act, voting on 20 separate amendments before finally agreeing to report the bill to the full Commerce Committee, as amended. Rep. Steve Largent (R-Okla.) submitted an amendment in the nature of a substitute for the original bill that was co-sponsored by Reps. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Rick Boucher (D-Va.). The bill then encountered a series of debates that by the end of the day left Largent questioning the core intent of the bill that his amendment unsuccessfully attempted to scale back. The bill took on several manifestations during the course of the day, but the final outcome proved to be one that proponents of the legislation can work with, according to sources. The bill that the subcommittee passed includes a provision that allows cooperatives to apply for the loan program, and provides for an 80 percent loan guarantee by the federal government. However, the bill reduces the overall loan amount from $1.25 billion to $1 billion. Throughout the day, Largent and Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Calif.) fought hard to reduce the effectiveness of the proposed rural loan program. Cox cited a report that the proposed program would be financially risky to taxpayers in an effort to defeat the bill. Largent proposed that the program guarantee only 50 percent of any loan, while Cox tried unsuccessfully to reduce the total amount of the program. Each time they attempted to reduce the potential effectiveness of the proposed bill through the amendments, Cox and Largent encountered a strong rebuttal and defeats for their amendments, lead primarily by Boucher. The final version of the bill passed by the subcommittee includes: An amendment from Rep. Nathan Deal (R-Ga.) raising the percent of loans guaranteed to 80 percent; an amendment from Rep. Barbara Cubin (R-Wyo.) that allows cooperatives to apply for the loans; an amendment from Ranking Minority Member Ed Markey (D-Mass.) that excludes use of loans for spectrum auctions at the FCC, and one that doesn't allow incumbent cable companies to become eligible for the loans; an amendment from Subcommittee Chairman Billy Tauzin (R-La.) on use of translators as a first resort for delivery of local signals to rural areas; an amendment from Boucher striking limitations on the Grade B contour and excluding competition, and one reducing to three the number of members on the board overseeing the loan guarantees. Cox was successful in bringing the issue of must carry to the debate. The final version of the bill contains a provision for a limit to must carry for those qualifying under the rural loan program to deliver local stations to small and rural markets, depending on the number of hours of local programming a network broadcasts per week. The revised rural loan bill is likely to be considered by the full Commerce Committee on Tuesday, March 28.

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WSNet Aims At MDUs-Small Cable Ops

WSNet, the largest distributor of satellite TV programming to the private cable and wireless cable industries, will debut a digital TV service aimed not only at its multiple-dwelling unit clients but at small and rural cable operators as well. The small-dish service will be sold through video service providers, including private cable services, small and rural cable operators and wireless companies. The service, first reported by SkyREPORT.COM Thursday, will be privately branded, and will be unveiled at WSNet's annual operator summit in Austin on April 12. WSNet is partnering with HITS, a unit of cable and broadband giant AT&T, and Loral Skynet, the satellite services arm of Loral, for the offering. Under terms of the Loral contract, WSNet acquired access to transponders on the Telstar 6 satellite. Those transponders enable WSNet to deliver more than 50 channels of programming. Through HITS, WSNet will get up to 140 additional channels. With the two agreements, WSNet will be able to offer more than 190 channels, including nearly 100 video channels, 30 digital music channels, 40 premium multiplexes, a variety of pay-per-view services and special networks.

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ReplayTV Gets DISH-Other Investors

ReplayTV has won investments totaling $84.9 million from leading media, consumer electronics and advertising companies, the interactive TV company announced Thursday. Among the investors is EchoStar, which also has interactive TV deals in place with Microsoft's WebTV and OpenTV. Other Replay TV investors include Adelphia, Comcast, Excite@Home, Grey Advertising, Matsushita Kotobuki Electronics, News Corp., Scientific-Atlanta, Sega, Sharp Electronics and Vulcan Ventures. The ReplayTV system is priced at $599 and has 20 hours of storage. Systems are for sale at Amazon.com. A Panasonic version of ReplayTV is expected in retail stores in mid-2000.

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Rupert: Kicking the GM Tires?

The big rumor that hit Wall Street Thursday, floated by financial channel CNBC, was that News Corp.'s Rupert Murdoch was looking to buy - of all things - the world's largest car company. As soon as the story appeared on the wires, both General Motors and News Corp. vehemently denied it. Said the auto giant, "Today's report that News Corp. has engaged in talks with General Motors, investment bankers and other third parties regarding a potential acquisition of GM is entirely false and without merit." CNBC also said the deal would include Liberty Media, News Corp.'s largest shareholder outside of the Murdoch family. Murdoch wouldn't be interested in selling cars. He reportedly was eyeing GM's stake in Hughes Electronics and - most importantly - Direc TV. Under one scenario presented by observers, News Corp. would spin off the automobile manufacturing part and keep the satellite assets. However, some were scratching their heads over the reported deal. Why would News Corp. go after GM when it can bid directly for Hughes? There could also be a conflict between News Corp.'s ownership of DirecTV and its stake in competitor EchoStar. News America Limited owns approximately 33 million shares of EchoStar stock out of approximately 230 million shares outstanding. Nonetheless, DirecTV is considered a very desirable asset for a media company. "Conceptually, a News Corp. acquisition of Hughes Electronics would make considerable sense, given that News Corp. is already one of the world's leading satellite providers except in the U.S.," William Kidd of C.E. Unterberg Towbin said. "News Corp.'s Sky and Star TV assets, coupled with DirecTV, would make for a formidable combined entity." On Thursday, Hughes closed up nearly $17 to $141. EchoStar, which saw its stock split, closed at $72.81.

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ON TV: Telco Offers DirecTV Para Todos