We will again a couple million out there and hopefully the senate will take that up as part of their legislation and we will have that out of the way. Host this is the mustpass legislation. What if congress doesnt pass it . What happens . Guest on december 31st i would get a lot of calls. When we went analog to digital on television, even though there was stuff going on across the country about what would happen happened, i warned by staff in ohio to be prepared about the next day people were going to say my tv isnt working or i am getting a terrible signal. As soon as you turn the tv on they are calling and finding out what happened. In this case we had 1. 5 million subscribers out there not receiving a signal the next day. Host i read in one article it it is now the Satellite Television and revitalization act. This has to be done every five years. We have the work done in the house and i think we have about 325 pieces of legislation over the senate. So we are going to take it up quickly and act on it. One other provision in there was retransmission reform. Did you support that . Guest there were several other titles included and this was to make things even between cable and for the regular television stations out there so it was putting everybody on the same footing out there. So again as the bill went through we had quite a few discussions on it and if you see a piece of legislation that could have been controversial in the very beginning and take it up on suspension and not only have it but have them vote on it at the same time. Host will that influence the senate . Guest i think it should. When the house takes up something they think it controversi controversial, the house works this legislation and made sure it got to where it was. It was democrats and republicans sitting down to work the legislation out and we got the. It isnt often when you have something this large that you can say it was on a suspension calend calendar. You have to pass it with a Senate Majority and it passed on a voice this time. Host you talked about Net Neutrality and broadband. What does that bill deal with . Guest i believe in an open and Free Internet without government interview. It is what is being done on the private sector. When you look at this and say this is an Information Service and it has been an Information Service from going back to previous chairman of the fcc and going back almost two decades and all of a sudden they are saying they want to put it under title two and make it more like a telecommunication using a law from about 1935. And what we will see happen then is the innovation out there that spurred about a trillion in private investment is going to be tied up like a telephone company. We dont want that. Once you start that up, all of a sudden the innovation is slowing up and the dollars being put in and the tens of thousands of jobs created. We dont want that to happen. We want it to remain free and open and away from government control. Host we have been talking about the fcc. What do you think of chairman wheelers tenure so far . Guest we have a chairman and cochair and a democrat who is a cochair as well. Sixeight of us sat down around the table and when you look at where the chairman wants to go that is not where someone on the Committee Want to see the fcc going. It is more regulation, more government and we want to see everybody needing the regulation out there and you can live with it but at the same time we dont want this over government control coming down on our telecommunications, internet and those spheres out there. Time is going to tell. Host the fcc is working on the erate. Do you support funding that . Guest it is where are they going with it . How much are they going to spend . We want to make sure especially like the piece of legislation i have out there when you talk about like Net Neutrality we want less out there not more. Host are telecommunication issues a rural urban divide . Guest that is a good question. One of the bills in subcommittee today is how things are spread out. If you start taking a peg out over here does that break the chain of helping folks in more rural communities. And so sometimes you at this saying it is rural and urban and one piece of legislation today deals with communications that are out there in areas in certain minorities and certain Foreign Language channels could be directly affected by this especially with spectrum. We want as much spectrum out there as possible and another bill i have deals with the five gigabytes area and there is testing because we dont have the extra spectrum and we will have about seven mobile devices or some type of device per individual in the United States by 2017 or 1. 4 across the globe. And that is absolutely incredible when you think about that and how much spectrum we will have to have. That deals with the sharing, correct . Guest this piece of legislation looking at the upper side. Host bob latta, thanks for your time. Joining us now is someone we dont normally talk to. This is congressman brian higgins, democrat from new york. Congressman higgins, you introduced a bill about the sports blackout rule. What is that rule . The blackout rule allows the nfl to not broadcast in a local area Football Games that are not sold out and the fcc voted to end the Government Support for the blackout rule that has been in effect since 1975. The reason for that is the economic of the nfl has changed. 70 of construction in the stadiums is financed by taxpayers. And the audio and visual technology has changed at home. And stadiums like buffalo, which is the second smallest market in the league, has the capacity in their stadium of 73,000 yet the League Average is 67,000. And things like luxury seating, advertising in accordance with the selective bargaining units and the team are revenue obtained by the teams exclusively. So we believe the blackout rule is obsolete and doesnt serve the purchase anymore. Why would a team not want their team exposed, their product and brand, exposed to tens of thousands of people. We think the blackout rule is obsolete and the fcc took the first move and they will mote at the end of the year and we believe the nfl will follow. Host so the nfl has the final way . Guest they do. The legislation would remove the fcc. And we made the fans act and that would remove the blackout. We think we have leverage. But i think the economics of this will drive the issue and the nfl will to realize it is in their best interest to give up the blackout rule. These are teams and communities that support the team not only through their emotional commitment and through stadium dollars to make the venues more profitable for the nfl teams. At the very least, the nfl should do away with the blackout rule all together. Host how did the rule come to be at a time . Guest this was 1975 and it made sense. The home viewing experience was very different. Today with audio and visual technology, surround sound, the home game watching experience has been increased tremendously. And in 1975, there was little stadium advertising going on. Now you see stadiums that replete with advertising and that deminishes the benefits of the team in the league trying to market advertising. Merchandising. Today fans by and large are w r wearing jersey in the stadium. We think the nfl will catch up with the issue and do the right thing and remove the blackout rule all together. Host do individual teams support the blackout rules . Like the Buffalo Bills . Guest the league acts like a league and i dont think they want to be encouraged to do anything other than what they want to do. But i think my responsibility is to continue to advance compelling data that shows the blackout rule is obsolete and they are protecting something that is against themselves economically and all of the data bears that out. It isnt a question of if. It is a question of when. And i think the league will come along and support this. And that is why the fcc action is important. They voted umaniously and we will take final action at the end of the year. Host how does this affect buffalo . Guest you have a team that is the second smallest market base in the league. It has a loyal fan base despite how well they play. They say the stadium has good bones and it can be retrofitted. It is undergoing renovation right now. The capacity is 73,000 and they have to sell out 73,000 seats in order to be able to watch the game. In buffalo and other smaller market areas we get blocked out d disproportionately and we would argue it hurts the them. You are less likely to see the advertising and the things that drag the economics of the nfl. It isnt a question of if, we think. It is a question of when. Host and there is tv revenue, right . Guest that is right. General seating is a shared revenue. 73,000 or 67,000 every team gets the same. And some people say in buffalo it is hard to accept that may they be having financial challenges because they sell out virtually every game, with exexceptions, despite the team. General seats are shared revenue. It is the advertise and luxury suites that are influenced by the size of the market that determines viability of nfl teams. We think this should be a recognition that the smaller market teams that are stored franchises in the nfl should be given the opportunity to survive and we believe it will occur to the economic benefit of the nfl teams in addition to the loyal fan base they have. You said the fcc voted to end it. The nfl is the one who has to implement it. Where does the Congress Come in . Guest we do have leverage and we think we are acting in the best interest of the fan base. There is other taxpayer subsidies as well for the team that operate in smaller cities. When you do a cost benefit analysis you will find that the economics all point to an elimination of the blackout rule. Host brian higgins, dem democrat from new york, thank you. Next up is cory gardner, a republican of colorado and the member of the energy and commerce committee. Congressman, gardner, you have not been on the show before. If you could talk about your philosophy when it comes to telecommunication this year. Guest this is an amazing world. I can remember the first bag phone. And i grew up on a farm and we used bricks phones and now talk about iphones and snap chat and the changes we have seen and the delivery of video into places we never imagined we could have is incredible. And i am wondering how we can spur the innovation and make sure consumers have access to what they are demanding. Host what are some of the ways . Guest i worked on deregulating the video providers in terms of getting video to the consumer and making sure it isnt too heavy handed in one party when it comes to protecting peoples ability to get paid. Host you have a bill the next generation tv market act. What is that . Host guest it gives people level footing when it comes to negotiate with broadcast and the providers and people delivering that media to the consumer. It puts people on a level Playing Field when it comes to those negotiations. Host do the broadcasters have a lot of umph in this town . Guest they do. But it is changing. They are critical voice but you can watch netflix from your cellphone and you can go to the same thing on tv but all falling under different rules. I dont think the consumer realizes the rules that govern their television when watching a movie on there and watching it on their iphone. Host what does the bill do . Guest it makes sure we have the opportunity to level the Playing Field between the broadcasters and Satellite Companies as they deliver that content to the viewers. Still make sure the people are getting paid for their work and their material but doesnt give them the great advantage they have now that results in blackouts. Host what did you think of the aero decision made by the Supreme Court . Guest i usually keep an antenna with me to show people what this is a sign of. This shows there is going to be more conflicts and decisions that have to be made by the Supreme Court because of a communication act that hasnt been updated for decades. Host do you see technology taking over how we watch tv when it comes to cable and satellite . Do you see the companies as old school . Guest look at the smart tv. You can watch hbo go with getting internet and watching it through the smart tv and on demand. I think it has fundamentally changi changed how we watch and react. You saw it on the series and the programs they are making that show you can deliver that were available only 30 years ago on a television and now you can get it through your iphone or cellphone. Host what is Congress Role in updating that . Guest they have to create a level Playing Field and out of the way and make sure technology and innovation flourish. It is being driven by the consumer that wants access at whatever time of the day to watch their program or pick what program they want to watch. That is the exciting part. Seeing that change over the past year and several years and that change moving even faster now. Host fcc just closed their Comment Period on Net Neutrality issue. What is your position on that . Guest i dont think it is in the best interest of the United States having the government regulating the internet. I dont think we need to move in the direction of more government interference with the internet. Host do these telecommunication issues play on had campaign trail while running for senate in colorado . Guest it is interesting. They do. It is a huge area. The western slope of colorado is as big as the state of florida and there is five other congressional districts in between. When it comes to internet broadbrand access that is a big issue. And in the four corners. If you are in durango or cortez you dont get denver. You get new mexico station. So you dont get the denver bronco games. We are working to find solutions to address the issue of people in colorado cant get colorado television. Host is this a market issue . Guest the way they created it was carved out areas went with different parts of the country. It was determined this area would be with new mexico. Is there a Technology Issue that would fix this . We need to look. Host there has been talk about rewriting the telecommunication law in a more comprehensive way. Is that something you support . Guest i think it need to happen. The communication act was amended in 1992. So if you look at the changes occurring since 1992 and the decades before that. Our family business, we sell farm equipment, and our tractors are satellite guided. The technology has changed from the time you had a single horsepower or horse pulling a plow to the satelliteguided tractors because of television. And you can watch netflix in the tractor while it is driving itself. Host they are working on spectrum, too. Are you satisfied with the process . Guest we have to make sure we maintain oversight and not just concern players having access to this. Spectrum availability around the nation needs to be open for all and everybody participa tiadver pant participates host represent cory gardner. Guest thanks for having me. We are bringing you booktv on cspan2. Starting with jaun the new arabs how the millennial generation is changing the iddle east and then how the world turned against israel and then on authority in the arab world. Tuesday we will look at the issues congress is dealing with for the august recess leading to the fall elections. We will have the author of 935 lives the future of truth and the decline of americas mortality [ applause ] well thanks to everybody for coming out. Let me tell you xhng