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DISH Network Complied with the Court-Appointed Special Master's Examination of Its Compliance with the Section 119 Statutory License

GAO-13-169R Published: Dec 12, 2012. Publicly Released: Dec 12, 2012.
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Highlights

What GAO Found

GAO found that DISH complied with the Special Master's examination. DISH provided the Special Master with information on its subscribers and royalty payments, and cooperated on a survey of all major network-affiliated broadcast stations nationwide. Since our March 23, 2012, report, the Special Master issued a report noting that there was no substantial evidence of improprieties by DISH regarding the Section 119 statutory license.

Why GAO Did This Study

This report responds to the requirement, enacted in the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act of 2010 (STELA), mandating that the Comptroller General monitor and periodically report on the degree to which DISH Network (DISH) was complying with the Special Master's examination of its compliance with the royalty payment and household eligibility requirements of the Section 119 statutory license. On March 23, 2012, we issued our first report on this subject; at the time, we found that DISH was complying with the Special Master's examination. In this report, our second and final report on this subject, we address DISH's compliance through the completion of the Special Master's examination.

For more information, contact Mark Goldstein at (202) 512-2834 or goldsteinm@gao.gov.

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