Reid: Nearly 1.5 Million Will Be Unable To Watch Local TV Because Of Senate Inaction

UPDATED BELOW

It's bad enough that thanks to Senate inaction more than a million laid-off workers could lose their unemployment benefits and subsidized health insurance in March, but it gets worse: According to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), nearly 1.5 million people will be unable to watch local TV stations starting Monday.

The package of extensions the Senate failed to pass included not just a 30-day extension of unemployment benefits, but also extensions of subsidized COBRA health insurance, flood insurance, small business loans, highway funding, and, apparently, a "satellite television extension" that allows people in rural areas to watch their local TV stations via satellite.

Reid said the bill's provisions are extremely important -- "Especially to those people who are unemployed and those who at midnight Sunday night will lose the ability, almost 1.5 million people in rural America, will no longer be able to watch local television."

According to MultiChannel news, because of the Senate's failure, "satellite operators will not be allowed to import distant affiliate TV station signals to viewers who cannot receive a viewable version of their local affiliate."

HuffPost has placed calls to satellite TV providers and will update this story as soon as more info becomes available.

Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.), in the name of taking a stand against deficit spending, single-handedly prevented the Senate from proceeding to a vote on the extensions.

Bunning acknowledged rural satellite TV viewers in remarks on the Senate floor Friday morning. According to an unofficial Senate transcript, Bunning agreed "that everybody in this chamber wants to extend unemployment benefits, COBRA health care benefits, flood insurance, highway bill assistance, medical doc fix, small business loans, and rural satellite television for viewers that can't get cable or something."

UPDATE 3/1/2010:

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) on Friday sent a letter urging satellite TV providers not to drop local channels and informing them that they would be "held harmless" for doing so.

Comments

[rr52]

07:32 PM on 03/04/2010

We need to teach more than the Constitution. We need to bring Civics classes back.

[PollyTics]

12:12 PM on 03/01/2010

Whether you like Television or not, the fact remains that this is the only form of recreation and entertainment for many in this country.

The idea that this Senate has been unable to pass the bills concerning Unemployment, Health Insurance, funding for highways, small biz loans AND no television for the rural residents; well it's positively disgusting. The Democrats are just as guilty for this failure as the Republicans and they had better rectify the damage they are doing to all areas of this nation!

[Chudye]

01:34 PM on 03/01/2010

HUH????????? Forget about recreation and entertainment, what about the news????

[PollyTics]

03:15 PM on 03/01/2010

Add the News to that lot as well. Depriving anyone of that kind of access is disgraceful.

[spaghettidinner]

03:21 PM on 03/01/2010

Good point. I'm usually a downer about television. I think it is something to be enjoyed more later in life when you can't get around so well. However it is important to many. I do think tha t most of the news local or national isn't particularly valuable. But, it feels good to keep up with the news because so much of it has a feeling of "now" and there are lots of novel stories. Just, most news is pretty inconsequential to the average persons daily life in that it won't immediately change the trajectory of their life at least in the short term.

[RedDog79]

11:49 AM on 03/01/2010

All of you making fun of people in rural America without access to local TV think about this. Most of rural America means red states - Kentucky, TN, WV. without access to local TV how will they know that it was their "beloved" representative Bunning that cut them off? get it? TV is the way that most of the masses - over 97% in fact, receive information about the world, and what their government is up to. So to deny them TV means they will most likely keep voting Republican and continue to be, as some of you so low classly put it "unedjumicated"
think BEFORE you speak.

[naturallight]

11:10 AM on 03/01/2010

good! read a book. get edumacated.

[Nancy J Powell]

11:44 AM on 03/01/2010

obviously you are not effected

[Norge]

10:05 AM on 03/01/2010

Oh that they could be so fortunate. An auto turn off the baby sitter finally giving people the oppertunity
to think and find other activity. Wonderful, simply wonderful. A new beginning, a new start towards the front door for a lovely evenings' walk with a loved one. The beautiful evening sky filled with stars, a full moon and a loving hand in yours. Enjoy.

[JimR]

09:51 AM on 03/01/2010

This isn't really moving me... sorry, Harry.

[dayton52]

07:18 AM on 03/01/2010

It's not Bunning it's McConnell. Bunning, as all Republicans, gets his marching orders from Mitch McConnell. Wake up people!

[imademocrat]

08:01 AM on 03/01/2010

No, Bunning and McConnell don't get along at all. Bunning has blamed McConnell for drying up his fundraising and preventing him from running for Senate this year.

[Nancy J Powell]

11:46 AM on 03/01/2010

spot on and fanned

[Opygollopy]

02:54 AM on 03/01/2010

Due to his selfishness, Bunning will realize that history will not be kind to him over this. If he had an ounce of rationality, he would have realized that his actions on this is going to have repercussions and not just to the people who will be devastated by this. This is going to affect any trust that was left for his party as well. This is going to bring their incompetence to the forefront.

This is the problem with the GOP, they do not look at the consequences of anything. They just look for immediate results, not long term results. They have no vision and as a result, the United States is going to spend the next 10 years trying to clean up after them and their blatant disregard for anything or anyone but themselves. They are absolute f00ls and very incompetent at decision making and governance.

[Beth Boyle]

01:50 AM on 03/01/2010

I watch local news on line and have kissed the TV goodbye forever! The adds and the quality are such its not worth it anymore.

[Chudye]

01:33 PM on 03/01/2010

I do a lot of that myself and agree with the adds and quality issue, but many do not own a puter and/or afford the cost of online. What about them? Back to radio, I guess! Maybe that's not too bad either.

[sassafra]

01:30 AM on 03/01/2010

*yawn*, losing local TV affiliate broadcasts a cause for panic? i'm underwhelmed....oh what shall i do now?
i haven't watched local news for more than 10 years. i had my fill of "the storm of the century" sensationalist nonsense, the spinning, screeds, dumbing-down, leading-on, lack of depth journalism, and self-promoting crapola that spews from the local talking heads pie holes and I'm not buying it nor shedding a tear over it's demise.

[booker52]

01:15 AM on 03/01/2010

Another sign that our government isn't functioning

[Opygollopy]

02:58 AM on 03/01/2010

No, its another sign that the government is not functioning because of the selfishness and childishness of a minority party who cannot deal with the fact they have a Black President and are no longer in power. It is the Republican Party that has stopped the Government. BiPartisan efforts have been attempted and shot down.

Blue Dogs are a new breed and they will learn their lessons at the polls.

[rf-hawaii]

12:57 AM on 03/01/2010

" Reid: Nearly 1.5 Million Will Be Unable To Watch Local TV Because Of Senate Inaction "

Oh no!

How will they be indoctrinated?

[Brandon Crisler]

12:19 AM on 03/01/2010

Does this mean we'll have to start reading!? NOOOOOOO!!!

[Kiabell04]

10:15 PM on 02/28/2010

What's more, you can't even get local channels thanks to the folks who thought digital converter boxes were a brillant idea. You're pretty much forced into getting cable.

[jerryatthebeach]

08:39 PM on 02/28/2010

You can still get public broadcast stations and the big three for ten dollars a month with your local cable provider, or you can buy a converter box at discount stores.

[Clemgo3165]

10:08 AM on 03/01/2010

Not everyone in the country has access to cable - it doesn't come to my area, just outside a reasonably sized city in Virginia. Nor do I have access to local channels through satellite. And while I'm fortunate enough to have a powerful atenna and a functioning converter box for the locals, not all of my neighbors have the same level of reception - many in my area go without.