House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio and other Antitrust Subcommittee Republicans at a hearing Wednesday appeared interested in -- but not yet committed to -- pursuing a revamp of parts of the 1961 Sports Broadcasting Act (SBA). The revisions are being considered to address concerns that the NFL is misusing the statute’s antitrust exemption, which allows professional sports leagues to negotiate nationwide broadcast rights. House Judiciary released a report Monday that criticized the NFL for such misuse and suggested that the SBA may now need “legislative reforms” (see 2606080060).
House Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., told us that he hasn't ruled out pushing to remove language from the House Appropriations Committee's FY 2027 bill covering FCC funding (HR-8495) that bars the commission from further evaluating NextNav’s proposal for a GPS alternative on the 902-928 MHz band (see 2404160043). The company has called for reallocating the band to enable a “terrestrial complement” to GPS for positioning, navigation and timing services. House Appropriations added a rider to the Financial Services Subcommittee's HR-8495 in late April to block that proposal (see 2604220073).
The House Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee on Friday voted 11-7 to advance its FY27 funding bill without any money for public broadcasting, as expected (see 2606020073), including no allocation for the Education Department’s Ready to Learn grant program. America’s Public Television Stations (APTS) held an event on Capitol Hill last week to urge lawmakers to keep funding Ready to Learn. Meanwhile, the Homeland Security Subcommittee approved its FY27 funding bill with $50 million for the Next Generation Warning System (NGWS), which APTS had also sought.
The co-chairs of a bipartisan congressional working group are cautious about commenting on how a forthcoming USF legislative revamp proposal from House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Richard Hudson, R-N.C., could affect their own recommendations. The working group wants to circulate those recommendations to stakeholders this summer (see 2604300058). Hudson recently indicated that he’s now “shooting for” a June rollout of his USF proposal, which he hopes will “be on the same page” as the working group’s ideas (see 2606010056).
House Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., took a swipe Thursday at the House Appropriations Committee for seeking to bar the FCC from implementing NextNav’s proposal to reallocate the 902-928 MHz band to enable a “terrestrial complement” to GPS for positioning, navigation and timing services (see 2404160043). At a hearing on GPS issues, other Communications Subcommittee members appeared to be reluctant to strongly favor any particular PNT backup technology, but they offered a mixed reception for NextNav’s plan.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., responded Wednesday to questions and concerns about their Protect College Sports Act (S-4668) by touting its proposed expansion of the 1961 Sports Broadcasting Act's (SBA) antitrust exemption to allow schools and higher education institutions to collectively form an entity to sell college sports media rights. The measure uses voluntary participation in the media rights entity to obligate colleges to maintain women’s and non-revenue-generating intercollegiate sports programs (see 2605270073).
NextNav’s proposal to reallocate the 902-928 MHz band to enable a “terrestrial complement” to GPS for positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) services is on track to be a major focus of Thursday's House Communications Subcommittee hearing, with written testimony from the company's CEO Mariam Sorond and other planned witnesses highlighting the issue (see 2404160043). The House Appropriations Committee in April added language to the Financial Services Subcommittee’s FY 2027 funding bill (HR-8495) that would block the FCC from using its allotment to implement NextNav’s proposal (see 2604220073).
Senate Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee Chair Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., told us Tuesday that she sees no chance Congress will enact a modified form of federal public broadcasting funding for FY 2027 after Capitol Hill’s move last year to rescind $1.1 billion allocated for that purpose (see 2507160077). However, America’s Public Television Stations (APTS) CEO Kate Riley told us the group is still pushing for Congress to restore federal funding to local public broadcasters, albeit not via a resurrected CPB.
House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Richard Hudson, R-N.C., told us that his timeline for releasing proposed USF revamp legislation has slipped slightly, but he’s still eyeing a June rollout. Meanwhile, the House Rules Committee plans to meet Tuesday to consider a handful of proposed broadband-related amendments to the Agriculture Department’s FY 2027 funding bill (HR-8646).
The House Communications Subcommittee on Thursday set a June 4 hearing on U.S. GPS capabilities and whether the federal government needs to improve its reliability. The panel will begin at 10:15 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn, the Commerce Committee said.