State Representative Jim Struzzi says his bill on behalf of local broadcasters will come before the House Judiciary Committee for a public hearing this Wednesday morning.
Struzzi developed the bill after consulting with Renda Broadcasting, which brought the issues of unfair treatment of local broadcasters to light. The situation arose when a national company offered to stream video presentations of local high school sports teams, but required the schools to sign exclusive contracts with it, often without explaining to the schools that what they were signing froze out local radio stations and video streamers. Online viewers must pay for the subscription to watch the video presentations, and the situation was compounded when the PIAA signed an exclusive deal with the streamer.
Struzzi’s bill would allow visiting teams and their local broadcasters the same right to broadcast, stream, and provide telegraphic play-by-play as the home team, which became an issue when some schools interpreted the exclusivity clause differently than others.
The hearing is on Wednesday at 9:30 AM in Harrisburg and you can watch it on Struzzi’s website, RepStruzzi.com.
