Congress Seeking to pass Bill to Cancel Faith Based Television

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Iwanthealthyhair67

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Congress Seeking to pass Bill to Cancel Faith Based Television

by exministries

Christian Programming Restricted From TV? New Bill Aims to Ban Faith Based Television

By William Rameau, BREATHEcast News Reporter
Congress might try to pass a bill to cancel Christian and local TV programming if it goes through.

Louisiana Republican Representative Steve Scalise presented the Next Generation Television Marketplace Act, which aims to eliminate the "must-carry" set of laws honoring free, local television.

"Decades-old broadcast, cable and satellite laws dramatically restrict access and limit consumer choice," Scalise said in a statement.


If The Next Generation Television Marketplace Act is ratified, many Television ministers feel it will become extinct on cable stations.


"(The bill) would be a significant detriment to Christian TV stations and the viewers who rely on them for spiritual guidance," said National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) network CEO and President Dr. Jerry Johnson.


Trinity Broadcasting Network, one of the nation's prevalent Christian networks in America and worldwide, echoes Dr. Johnson's sentiments.


"Anytime you decide that you're going to change the marketplace without really understanding the marketplace we think it is a mistake, and I'm sorry that Rep. Scalise didn't seem to know that. He certainly never reached out to any of us in the religious broadcasting community and certainly none of the local broadcasters that I'm aware of," said TBN's advocate Colby May who believes the proposal is "ill advised."
"Valuable local affiliate programming, strongly demanded by consumers including myself, is proof that archaic government regulations are unnecessary today," said Scalise, who is also the Republican Study Committee Chairperson.

NRB President Dr. Johnson disagrees with Scalise because he believes "long-standing carriage rules ensure that viewers can access the important and edifying programming their local Christian broadcasters offer free-of-charge."
 
I'm not sure I understand the wording or exactly what they are trying to accomplish here - but if this is the case I am just outdone.
 
Leigh said:
Time for people of Faith to stand up and act!
Click to expand...

Exactly. Praying alone is sometimes not enough. God does want us to act Stand up and fight! The more Christians realize this the better. I would suggest finding out who your congressman/woman is and rallying support through letters and petitions to those directly involved with this bill. Get the Christian churches to speak on it at bible study this week and rally support through there. Don't just talk about, walk with your own pen and paper and get those petitions signed on the spot! PSA on Christian based radio is also a good way to get attention. Speak to the producer about this, make sure you have your facts and strategy in place so they know this issue is serious and it needs to be addressed. Social media is amazing. Create a hashtag and start discussions around the issue. @ message politicians involved as well!!!
 
I am totally and utterly disturbed, I love my 3ABN so many wonderful programs. I will be done with TV if they do that. Its hardly safe to watch anyway.
 
http://scalise.house.gov/press-rele...duce-legislation-deregulate-television-market

Scalise, DeMint Introduce Legislation to Deregulate Television Market
Dec 16, 2011 Issues: Communication and Technology

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Congressman Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) and U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) introduced the Next Generation Television Marketplace Act in both the U.S. House (H.R. 3675) and Senate (S. 2008). The comprehensive video bill repeals compulsory copyright licenses, various mandates on private sector companies and consumers, and FCC broadcast and media ownership rules.

“Over the last several decades, communications and entertainment technology has become more advanced, while the laws governing the industry have remained relatively unchanged,” Scalise said. “Together, decades-old cable and satellite ‘compulsory copyright’ licenses and ‘retransmission consent’ regulations currently influence many aspects of the broadcast programming consumers watch on TV. The government should not be in the business of picking winners and losers, and the Next Generation Television Marketplace Act ensures that by removing the heavy-hand of government, the market is free to operate in a way that continues to benefit consumers and encourage innovation.”

“The laws and rules governing video services were largely written decades ago, and do not reflect the tremendous technological advancements, dramatic growth of competition, and rapidly changing consumer behavior of the 21st Century,” said Senator DeMint. “If we want to encourage innovation, job creation, and consumer benefits, we need to stop issuing new regulations and instead remove and modernize rules written to address the last century's business and regulatory models.”

The Next Generation Television Marketplace Act comprehensively deregulates the complex framework of laws and rules governing the video services market. The bill removes government interference from what should be free market business relationships between and among content creators, network programmers, television broadcast stations, and multichannel video programming distributors. The bill maintains intellectual property rights for copyright holders and privacy protections for customers of cable and satellite companies.

“What we now have is a complex web of outdated regulations that must be addressed comprehensively and cannot be dealt with individually, in isolation from one another,” said Senator DeMint. “This bill does not reflect an interest in promoting or protecting one technology over another, or one competitor over another. It reflects a sincere interest in limiting government involvement and allowing the video service industry compete, innovate and grow. I look forward to working with all stakeholders on modernizing these laws and regulations.”

Specifically, the legislation would:

• Repeal those provisions of the Communications Act that mandate the carriage and purchase of certain broadcast signals by cable operators, satellite providers, and their customers.

• Repeal the Communications Act’s “retransmission consent” provisions and the Copyright Act’s “compulsory license” provisions, thereby allowing negotiations for the carriage of broadcast stations to take place in the same deregulated environment as negotiations for carriage of non-broadcast channels such as Discovery, Food Network, and AMC.

• Repeal ownership limitations imposed on local media operators, allowing businesses to evolve and adapt to today’s dynamic communications market.
 
Sen. Demint, S. Carolina and L.a. Rep. Scalise...hardly "congress.' They aim to deregulate "must-carry" programming, allowing for local productions to have greater access, which they have been trying to get for a long time. If christian television programs are cut, well, then they must figure out ahead of time how to vamp up their programming because it's going to be by popularity of product. Get to know the facts of the bill and its likelihood of being passed:

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/hr3720



Status

This bill was assigned to a congressional committee on December 12, 2013, which will consider it before possibly sending it on to the House or Senate as a whole.
Progress
Introduced Dec 12, 2013
Referred to Committee Dec 12, 2013
Reported by Committee ...
Passed House ...
Passed Senate ...
Signed by the President ...
Prognosis

5% chance of getting past committee.
1% chance of being enacted.

Only 11% of bills made it past committee and only about 3% were enacted in 2011–2013. [show factors | methodology]

Cosponsors
1 cosponsors (1R) (show)

Committees

House Energy and Commerce

House Judiciary

The committee chair determines whether a bill will move past the committee stage.



TEXT of bill
 
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